Arnold's Legacy
by Anonymous Latino
Summary: Arnold has a moved away. Helga and the gang are in high school and they befriend a new kid, Rodrigo Castile. A series of rumors and blackmailing leads of a rise of fighting and paranoia among the students at their high school. Friendships are broken, groups are splintered. Can Rodrigo find out who the culprit is and what person from the gang's past has come back to haunt them?
1. Chapter 1 - An Old Legacy

**Hi Everyone! This story can be considered to take place after the events of my other story, 'Helga's Transference'. But in this story, it is not about Rodrigo's friendship with Helga. **

**This story is a part II kind of story that takes places years after from Cre8ivelybankgrupt87's story, 'The Mitigators'.**

**I would like to thank Cre8ivelybankgrupt87 for allowing me the honour to write this part II story. After reading the story, I was so inspired by it, that I wanted to do a sequel of it.**

**PLEASE NOTE: This story contains spoilers from 'The Mitigators' story, so if you do not wish to know how that story ended, then please DO NOT read this story. ALSO, it is REQUIRED for the reader to read 'The Mitigators' story first, in order to understand my story.**

**I wrote this story on the assumption that the reader has already read my previous two stories, 'Helga's Confession' and 'Helga's Transference' and is already familiar with the new character that I incorporated into Arnold's world, Rodrigo Castile de la Serna. Although it is not required for the reader to have read these stories, it will certainly help in understanding what is happening in this story.**

**To help you understand this story a bit more, as well this new character, Rodrigo Castile de la Serna, I would suggest reading Chapter 5: Eugene's Saviour from my story, 'Helga's Transference'.**

**I do not own any of the Hey Arnold characters! They belong to Craig Barlett and Nickelodeon, except Rodrigo Castile who is a creation of my imagination. **

* * *

**During lunchtime...**

Rodrigo said nothing throughout the time he listened to Gerald tell the tale of their noble and historical battle against Ludwig and his army of sixth graders and how Arnold heroically lead his rough band of friends dressed in outlandish and comical costumes in order to bury once and for all, the ugly and seemingly abusive tradition of Trash Can Day that Ludwig attempt to re-institute at their PS118 elementary school.

Like a little kid listening to his grandfather's stories, Rodrigo watched attentively with wide and exciting eyes as Gerald attempted to re-enact the battle that took place on Gerald's field. The entire gang was present at the lunch room table as Gerald re-told what eventually became their finest hour. Helga, Phoebe, Harold, Patty, Sid, Stinky, Eugene, Nadine, Lila, Sheena, Park, Lorenzo and Peadpod Kid, veterans from the battle and whom supported Arnold, were all there, sitting and listening to Gerald.

Heck, the whole group got so into Gerald re-telling the story, that even Helga was inspired to re-enact her famous 'Trash Can Day' speech that she no doubt took from the inspired play of William Shakespeare's _Henry V._

"And the first Monday of June shall never again go by, from this day till the end of our school, but we in it shall be remembered." Helga exclaimed as she was standing on top of the table, attempted to replay her exact words on that fateful and glorious day with the same passion and inspiration. "We few...we crazy few... we band of misfits; for all you who fester in garbage with me today shall I call brother and sister, be you ne'er so trashed. And kids of Public School 118 now afar shall think themselves wusses that they were not here, and hold their girlhoods cheap when any speaks that fought with us on Trash Can Day!"

"Yay!" *claps* *whistles*

Some of the other students who were at the other tables cheered as soon as Helga finished her speech, prompting everyone in the gang to turn around, smile and wave at them. Indeed, some of the students who fought on their side ended up going to the same high school as they did. Although they were not really friends, those that went to the same high school still looked up to Arnold's group and would even ask for their advice from time to time.

Helga simply smiled and took a few bows.

Although Rodrigo did not cheer, he was just as enthusiastic as they were. Completely taken into by Helga's speech, his blood was boiling, his veins were pumped with adrenaline and his heart was racing. Was what her speech intended, he was itching for a fight! But alas, he had to calm down so as not to get out of hand, and to let Gerald finish the story.

"And there we were, only but a brave few sixth graders against a horde of them, ready to take them on!" Gerald exclaimed with much suspension and excitement as he told their story. "But by virtue of Helga's speech, as well as being inspired by us in taking a stand against Ludwig and protecting the lower graders, our ranks began to slowly swell. At first it was only a few, but gradually, those same lower graders that we were protecting, who once quivered in fear, joined us instead, ready to fight against that brutal tradition of Trash Can Day and everything that it stood for."

Finally, Gerald told Rodrigo how eventually Arnold's group overwhelmed Ludwig's army, captured Ludwig and threw him into a trashcan. He also told how Wolfgang unexpectedly showed up and managed to convinced a dirty and disgruntled Ludwig to give up in trying to reinstall this absurd tradition and to just focus on other things in life, prompting Arnold and his friends to declare final victory over their former oppressors!

"Wow..." was all Rodrigo could say after Gerald finished.

Ever the history geek, Rodrigo understood the full significance of the morality of the story, but unlike some of his peers, he took it further. For him, the great moral battle that took place on Gerald's field almost five years ago was not just simply to stop the re-introduction of an obscene practice that explicitly indicated an unfair hierarchical and 'survival of the fittest mentality. Nor was it just about categorizing those who were 'geeks' and subjugating them to such humiliating endeavors. This was as much as about inclusivity in the general sense of the term as one can get.

Rodrigo completely took the lessons learned on that day to indicate that not only can lower graders go about their lives without the fear of one day getting thrown into a trash can, but everyone, including those of different racial/ethnic backgrounds, different sexual and gender orientation, different people who just didn't conform to the standard trend, that can and should go about their daily lives without the fear of being intimidated, oppressed and excluded from society for who they are. Indeed, instead of particular groups attacking one another for power, influence or scarce resources over their 'rivals', Arnold took a more radical, if not revolutionary approach; to stop with the bickering and allow everyone a fair share of the pie, so to speak. Everyone should be included into the system and never be afraid of ever being deprived of their rights and privileges for simply expressing themselves as they want to.

Even well after Gerald finished telling the story, Rodrigo still said nothing and continued to sit on his chair, still in awe.

"So, what do think, Rodrigo?" Gerald finally asked him.

"Holy s***! That was incredible! Where the hell was I?!" Rodrigo finally said something. "Oh yes, I was back L.A., doing absolutely nothing other than going to school and trying not to get shot." he continued sarcastically.

"I would have traded my right arm just so I could have been there with you guys! Never have I heard of a story that was so...inspiring, noble and heroic, almost legendary really!" Rodrigo continued to exclaim with excitement.

"What you guys did those kids and for preceding generations... no words can ever express the full magnitude of your actions." he continued.

"Rodrigo, quit being overly dramatic about this." Helga interjected with annoyance in her voice. "We just saved a few kids from getting thrown into trash cans and stopped a rather stupid tradition from ever resurfacing again. It's not like we changed history, you know."

Rodrigo looked at her with a bit of confusion on his face. He wasn't sure if Helga was simply downplaying the importance of the event that she participated in, or if she never fully grasped its moral significance."

"No, you didn't change history, Helga." Rodrigo responded back. "But you definitely changed things, at your former elementary school at least. Your actions on Gerald's field not only changed a 'few kids', but entire generations. Since you guys left PS118, have you heard reports of kids ever inflicting that much humiliation and torture on others?"

"Not really." Phoebe responded. "Gerald and I visited our old school last year to visit some of our old teachers and none have reported of kids humiliating others in that manner. Actually, when we spoke to Mr. Simmons who still teaches there, he told us that he was surprised at how inclusive students have been in the few last years before we went on to attend high school. Although there are still the occasional bullies and fighting, Mr. Simmons told us that the grade fours and fives that he now teaches are much less prejudiced against one another, with very little rivalry between graders."

"So what?" Helga interjected again. "That doesn't mean that what we did back then had any direct influence as to how kids in our old school behave today."

"Actually, Helga, yes it did." said a student who just approached their group, prompting everyone to turn around and face him.

"And who are you?" Helga bluntly asked him, while she crossed her arms.

"My name is Jason. I'm in grade nine at the moment, but I used to go to PS118 with you guys. Actually, I was there at Gerald's field with everyone fighting off Ludwig. I was in grade four back then."

The news didn't surprised anyone, but it only served to annoy Helga as she gave Jason a frowning face, who didn't appreciate just barging into their conversation.

Jason took notice of her being displeased with him being there, but remaining unfazed, continued to talk.

"I know you don't remember me, but I sure remember everyone of you guys. Everyone who was there at Gerald's field on that day remembers you. You underestimate how much you helping us from getting thrown into trashcans has influenced us. Us lower graders took your brave actions to heart and we carried on the tradition of not just helping others, but also in not allowing any particular group, especially the bigger kids, in oppressing others. We not only ensured that Trash Can Day never returned, but we continued to ensure what we learned most from Arnold; not leaving anyone out. Our grade tried to include everyone in our games, activities and even in class, we tried to help each other out, really. Sure there is still a hierarchy, but it is now based on respect and merit, rather than through fear and intimidation. I can honestly say that since that day, things have gotten better for many kids at that school. And it continues to be that way. I know this because I have a little brother who is in grade five right now and he has heard of the legend of the Mitigators and how their heroic actions led for a series of new changes in the way kids treat each other. We haven't forgotten you guys, for what you did."

Everyone in the gang looked at Jason and smiled at the wonderful news. Despite the years, they were amazed that their actions have not only not been forgotten, they have led to a series of positive outcomes. Indeed, everyone at that moment, even Helga who ceased her frowning, still felt like a hero.

"There you go." said Rodrigo as he pointed to Jason. "Thanks Jason for proving my point."

"You're welcome." he responded back with a small smile. "Sorry to have interrupted your conversation guys. I overheard you talking about that event and I just wanted to let you guys know that your actions were important to us. Thanks again."

Jason then left to rejoin his group of friends who were only beside the gang's table. Rodrigo then looked at Helga with a smirk on his face.

"See? What did I tell ya?" he said to her.

"Fine, whatever." Helga responded back as she rolled her eyes, accepting defeat...for the moment.

While this was going on, Rhonda was scanning her phone, trying to find some of the pictures that she managed to recuperate from that day. Finally, she managed to find them.

"Here. Take a look, Rodrigo." she said to him as she handed him her phone.

Rodrigo scanned through the pictures. He then stopped to take a closer look at a particular picture. Then suddenly,

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rodrigo burst out laughing.

*sigh* "I take it you saw the pictures of the costumes that Arnold and myself were wearing?" Gerald asked exasperatingly.

Rodrigo was laughing so hard that was not able to verbally respond to Gerald. He only managed to nod his head.

"Out of all the pictures that could have been lost on that day, those had to be salvaged?" Gerald remarked annoyingly at Rhonda.

Rhonda just smiled at Gerald and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh my God! HAHAHA! This is what you guys wore?! HAHAHAHA!" exclaimed Rodrigo as he put his head on the table, still laughing.

Although Rhonda would normally be offended that a piece of her work was being mocked at, in this case, after looking back at what she, Sheena and Nadine actually made, granted it was not their greatest piece of work. But more importantly, she realized that those costumes threw off Ludwig and his army off of their game, becoming completely confused as to why Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe were wearing such ridiculous costumes. In the end, they played a vital role in their victory, albeit not the way that Rhonda and Eugene had originally intended.

Instead of being mad, Rhonda just chuckled at remembering them.

Helga on the other hand just watched in annoyance, impatiently waiting for Rodrigo to stop laughing. She was not appreciating that he was laughing at Arnold. Granted, his costume was comical and horrible, but NO ONE laughs at Arnold and gets away with it. Only she had that privilege.

"Are you done?!" she finally asked him irritatingly.

"It's too bad I couldn't salvage the photos of you and Phoebe in your costumes, Helga." Rhonda remarked with a smirk on her face.

"Consider it as a sign that the Heavens decided to let you live a few more years Princess, lest I would have ended it if you ever showed those photos to anyone!" Helga barked at her.

Finally, Rodrigo managed to regain his sense of control and slowly ceasing his laughter.

"I'm sorry guys but, hahaha, that was funny. Hahahaha. But seriously, I can see why just how much of an effect those costumes must have had on that day." said Rodrigo.

"You do?" Gerald asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup." He responded back. "I know it would have completely thrown Ludwig and his army off. I mean, how were they suppose to take a bunch of pre-teens dressed in hero costumes on a such important event as Trash Can Day? They weren't expected it! As funny as they were, it was a brilliant diversionary and even psychological tactic. I commend you Rhonda, Sheena and Nadine for that."

"Well, glad to see that you saw the seriousness in an otherwise comical appearance." Nadine remarked.

"Despite the costumes, I would have killed to have been there. I would have loved to have contributed to such a noble cause. Much respect to you guys." Rodrigo complimented his friends.

"Including you four." he continued as he pointed towards Sid, Stinky, Harold and Patty. "Even though you guys originally sided with Ludwig, I'm glad you were able to see the error of your ways and switched sides."

"Well, we couldn't have done it had it not been for Harold's bravery. He was the first to rebel against Ludwig's influence, even at the risk of being thrown into a trashcan." said Stinky.

"Really?" Rodrigo asked with a surprising look on his face.

"Ya, that's my Harold." remarked Patty with a loving smile, as she rubbed Harold's hat.

"Aww it was nothing you guys." Harold responded back bashfully.

Rodrigo said nothing as he continued to smile at his friends and their bravery for standing up for what was right. Indeed, he was envious of them. Despite their comical hero costumes, Rodrigo did see them as heroes and he lamented himself for not taking part in it.

Nevertheless he remained hopeful to one day make his own mark on this and to continue on with what Arnold had essentially entrusted his friends, including the lower graders that they saved since he left; to create a world that no longer spreads fear, intimidation and shame for being who you are; to create a more just world.

_I do hope I can one day do my share to continue on with Arnold's legacy._ Rodrigo thought.

* * *

**I want to make it clear that I did not write Helga's speech. That was written by ****Cre8ivelybankgrupt87 in her story, 'The Mitigators'. It was such a good speech that I felt it needed to be heard again.  
**


	2. Chapter 2 - Keeping the Status Quo

**Meanwhile outside of school...**

"Let me go!" a student yelled at the other taller student that was holding him up high against the wall, just outside of the school's parking lot.

The student very aggressively attempted to hit the other student that was holding him up with his legs, but the other student either dodged it or simply used his body to counter any attempts to hit him.

Fear was gripping the poor undefended student that was being held up high. He didn't know what else to do other than to continuing kicking, even though it was futile. He already had to endure a beating from them, now he was afraid that they might try to do something worse.

Then,

"Hmph!" the student had just received another punch, this time into his stomach, prompting the student to groan in pain.

"This is what you are; not just a freak but also a weakling!" the taller student said to him. The taller student, along with his friend, then gave the smaller student a few more punches to the face, chest and stomach, before finally letting him drop on the floor.

"I don't need to tell you what will happen to you if you say anything what happened to you today." The tall student said to him.

"Do you know who Matthew Shepard was?" he asked the injured student that was on the floor, with an evil grin on his face.

The injured student simply nodded, in complete fear as he knew what the taller student was getting at. It was a clear threat to his life.

"Good. Then you know what happened to him. That will happen to you too if you say anything. Got it?!" he threatened him with a deadly glare.

Again, the injured student said nothing and with a whimper, simply nodded in fright.

"Now get lost freak, and don't you ever show your face in this area again!" the taller student yelled at him.

The injured student got up as fast as he could and quickly ran away from his two oppressors.

After the injured student left, the two taller students remained there and celebrated their so-called 'victory'.

"This school is becoming a dump with freaks like that kid." One student said.

"For sure." The other student responded back. "Actually, I could go farther; this whole country is going down the s***hole with freaks like them. Stupid kid can't even decide what sex he is; good luck trying to make his way through life. Seriously, what the hell is he?"

"Beats me." the first student said. "But this school won't get any better with people like him and those that 'tolerate' this disgusting trend. We need to clean up this school, but we can't do it alone."

The second student said nothing and simply started rubbing the back of his head and neck, groaning as he was doing so.

"Hey El, you ok man?" the first student asked his friend.

"Ya a bit, thanks Roger." El, short for Elijah, responded back. "My neck is still hurting me. Ever since that piece of scumbag, Rodrigo pushed me onto the floor, the back of my neck hasn't stopped hurting. At times it does, but then there are days when it bothers me."

"Ya, I haven't forgotten that wetback kid." said Roger with a scowling tone. "We were lucky to not get caught by the Principal after trying to get rid of that clumsy kid Eugene from the school halls. No doubt that Latino kid is one of their supporters."

"I'd like to return the favour on him." El groaned in anger as he continued rubbing his neck. "That little piece of s*** nearly gave me a concussion and almost ruined my football season."

"Ya, but we can't take them on. It's only a tiny few of us against a horde of them. We'd never stand a chance in a fight." Roger growled in frustration.

"There's more than one way to win a fight. You divide and conquer." Another person suddenly said as this person came out almost from the shadows and approached both Roger and El, almost startling them and prompting them to get up from the floor.

"Who the hell are you?" Roger coldly asked the person.

"Just a fan and a big supporter of your cause." The person responded back with a smile.

"Our cause?" Roger asked with a raised eyebrow

"Yes." the person calmly responded. "Like you, I am also seeking to get rid of this chaotic and disgusting social mess that we have been finding ourselves in for years. Let me ask you this; that kid you just beat up, what did he mean to you?"

"Disorder, deformation and chaos. He's a mess really." Roger responded.

"Exactly! Before everything used to be so simple, wouldn't you agree?" the person asked them, prompting both teens to nod in agreement. "There was once order and clear boundaries that were never crossed. Not long ago, tradition was respected. There was a distinct hierarchy that only a privileged few would ever be a part of, simply because they earned it. But now, everything has gone down the stinking hole! There is no longer any order in this retched 'melting pot' of a country that we now live in. We now have to associate with freaks like that kid, plus a horde of other people that have now lost the very sense of identity."

"Identity?" El asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, identity. Let me ask you another question; what does it mean to be an American? Does it mean to be Indian, Muslim, Chinese, Latino, gay, transvestite, a tomboy girl, straight?

"Technically all of above." Roger responded back cautiously. "But then again, everyone has different opinions about what it means to be an American.

"Exactly!" exclaimed the mysterious person. "Back in the old days, there was a consensus what about what it meant to be an American. But now, there is no agreement whatsoever about what it. Everyone has been let to come up with their own 'opinion' on the matter. No worse, everyone now is allowed to be whatever they want to be, regardless of the consequences. Everything and everyone is now mixed, blending into something that is completely unintelligible. There are no boundaries at all, no distinction between different groups. Everyone is trying to become like everyone else. Look at that kid you beat up; he is clearly a guy, but is wearing feminine clothes. It looks as if he is trying to be like a girl, but he clearly looks like a guy! What a mess, would you two gentlemen agree?"

Again, both Roger and El nodded, becoming interested in what this mysterious person is saying.

"Everyone is mixing with each other and that it is creating a huge mess of people who no longer know who they are or where they come from. There is no single identity that can allow them to dictate a clear path for them to follow. As a result, there is no sense of what it means to be human, let alone an American. You gentlemen would not tolerate someone like that kid to be a girl, so why would you tolerate a white person to be black, or a Latino to 'try' to be white? Clearly a white person is white with his own culture and a black person is black with his own culture etc. Or would you allow it?"

"Obviously not." El responded back.

"We as Americans have lost our sense of identity because we have abandoned much of our traditions, allowing malignant traditions to flourish in its place." The mysterious person continued. "And whenever someone comes forward to protest against such aversions, that person is merely chastised and marginalized, labeling them as a dangerous and fascist beast that needs to be thrown away. What the hell has happened to us?!"

"So you're saying that we should kick out all the immigrants, the non-whites and messed up kids like that one?" El asked them.

"Well, the thought did cross my mind." The mysterious person responded with a smirk. "But no. I'm saying that there should be a clear, universal identity of what it means to live here. No group should be allowed to mix in with other groups. There should be clear boundaries and distinctions between them. It is utterly stupid for a Mexican person to associate himself with an Indian since they have nothing to do with each other! The same goes with that kid; there should a clear distinction of who he is and not be allowed to do whatever the hell he wants to do. In other words, segregation, with an authentic American culture reigning dominance over everyone else, the type that our Founding Fathers gave us during the American Revolution, Western-culture style."

"So what do you wish to do?" Roger asked the mysterious person.

"Like you gentlemen, I wish to cleanse this school of such spiteful traditions and ways of lives!" the mysterious person exclaimed.

Roger smiled at the mysterious person as he took in his every word. He completely agreed with everything he just said. El was also in agreement, but he remained a bit suspicious.

"Oh really?" El sarcastically asked.

"Yes, really." The mysterious person responded back. "I saw your display against that freak-show of a kid and while I am impressed with your resolve, you missed your mark and frankly, missed the entire point of what you should actually try to do."

"Well why don't you 'enlighten' us on what we should be doing?" Roger asked.

"You said it yourself." the mysterious person explained. "The people that you are trying to get rid of and their supporters, they are a horde, a multitude of people that can easily overwhelm you. But they have a weakness . They are divided into many different factions; races, ethnicities, sex, gender, personalities, hobbies etc. Instead of taking them all on a suicidal mission, make them do the work for you by exploiting those differences."

"How?" El asked.

"Divide and conquer. Pin them against each other. Make them paranoid that they cannot trust those that are different from them and they will falter. They say that in diversity therein lies their strength. I say we prove them wrong by making it known to them that in their diversity therein lies their weakness. It was a fools' hope to ever think that different people can be mixed together, let alone live in peaceful harmony. Then, when they are down, strike!"

"That sounds nice and good, but why should we trust you?" El asked, still being suspicious of this mysterious person. "For all we know, you could be a spy for them."

The mysterious person just smiled at El and then said, "I know you don't trust me. I get it. As much as you want to start a crusade against these immoral, parasitic infidels, you put your future in jeopardy. We all know what has happened to others across the country who tried to do the same thing and when they try to make their views known to everyone, they are completely squashed by the system. So in the spirit of trust and comradeship, I would like to initiate this strategy of divide and conquer on my own and covertly. I will only need some information about the groups that are in this dump of a school and you two can start recruiting others into our cause. Once you see what happens, I'm sure I will win your trust. If I fail, I'll leave and no one will be the wiser as to who helped me. Deal?"

The mysterious person then extended his hand to both Roger and El. After some hesitation, both teens finally shook the mysterious person's hand.

"Deal." El responded back.

* * *

**Granted, this was a bit vague, but everything will make more sense in the following chapters.**


	3. Chapter 3 - An Incoming Storm

**More than an hour after school ended...**

Rodrigo and Helga had finished their dancing lessons and had just about cleaned up the gym that they have been using, as part of the agreement with the teacher. They closed the gym door and made their way home.

"Damn it!" Rodrigo exclaimed as he groaned in pain, while somewhat limping.

"What's wrong?" Helga asked him.

"I don't know why, but my joint on my right foot is hurting. I was fine while dancing, but for some reason it started hurting just now."

"Getting too old, viejo? Or am I too fast for you?" (old man) Helga sarcastically asked him with a smirk on her face.

"Pfft! In your dreams, Helga." Rodrigo retorted back. "The day when I think I'm old will be the day when I die. So long as my heart beats, I rule the dance floor."

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, viejo." Helga responded back with a bit of a chuckle.

Just then, both teens saw Eugene, frantically running from out of the men's washroom.

"Yo Eugene, what are you doing here so late?" Rodrigo asked him.

"Oh hi Rodrigo. Helga." Eugene quickly responded, while also breathing heavily. "Sorry, but I can't stay. I have to head back to the LGBTQ head office." he continued with a worried facial expression on his face.

"Did something happen?" Rodrigo asked him.

"Ya, a transgendered person got beat up pretty bad today." Eugene responded back with a sad look. "Sorry, but I gotta go!" and quickly ran, leaving both teens behind.

Rodrigo and Helga stood there for a moment, wondering if perhaps they should find out what happened. Well, at least Rodrigo was thinking that. He looked at Helga to see if she was also curious, if not worried.

"What?" she asked him.

"I think we should go and see if Eugene needs help." he said.

"Eh, it's probably nothing. The kid probably got a busted nose from tripping over Eugene." she jokingly said.

Rodrigo however, was not amused and continued to look at her, clearly wanting to go over and see.

"Ugh, fine. Let's go see what happened." Helga annoyingly said as she rolled her eyes.

It didn't take long for the two teens to reach the head office of the LGBTQ organization. It was not on the same floor, but it was not far. As they approached the head office, one could see that there was a big commotion, with several students either helping the injured teen or talking among themselves. However, the kid that sustained its injuries, it looked serious.

When they approached the glass door, they hesitated to try and open it. The LGBTQ head office was not just the headquarters of the organization. It was also a sanctuary where gays, lesbians, transgendered, and queer kids from all ethnic and racial groups can come together and socialize without the fear of reprisals.

"Well?" Helga asked Rodrigo. "Aren't you going to go inside?"

Rodrigo looked at Helga with a clear worried look on his face. He wasn't sure if he was even allowed to go inside, him being heterosexual and all. But nevertheless, he grabbed the handled, twisted it and opened the door, allowing himself and Helga to go inside.

"Uh, Eugene? Is everything alright?" Rodrigo asked once he was inside the office.

Then, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards the two new visitors that had just barged inside, creating an awkward silence and intense staring session. Eugene then came forward from amongst the crowd, which opened a gap in between people.

Through that gap, both Rodrigo and Helga saw a teen who was sitting on the couch and she/he looked very hurt. To a horrified Rodrigo, the teen's face was seriously bruised and puffy. Blood had clearly been spilled as it was all over the teen's pants and sweater. Even Helga, who usually did not show her emotions in public, unless it was anger, was also horrified. Both teens' jaws dropped to the floor and eyes widen in disgust at what had happened to the teen.

"Guys, you should not be here, especially you Rodrigo!" Eugene exclaimed and promptly scooted both teens right out of the office. Eugene, instead of closing the door in front of their faces, decided to go outside with them.

"Sorry Eugene, we didn't mean to intrude..." Rodrigo attempted to explain but was cut off by Helga.

"Yes we did. That's why we came here to see what all the fuss was about."

"Helga!" Rodrigo scoffed at her for that remark.

Helga, despite the remark, was not finding this scenario to be at all funny, nor amusing. If anything, she was irritated that someone would try to go through such lengths to hurt someone who most likely was doing absolutely nothing to them.

"What happened, Eugene?" Helga bluntly and directly asked him.

Seeing as how worried they were for the teen's sake, Eugene opted to tell them.

*sigh* "Ok. I can't tell you her name, but she is transgendered. She got beat up today during lunchtime at the school parking lot by two guys."

"Was it Roger?" Rodrigo asked him. Roger was the first person that came into mind, as he had previously attempted to beat up Eugene, along with another guy whom Rodrigo did not know.

"I don't know." Eugene sadly replied. "She won't tell us who did this to her. When we asked why, she said she is afraid that they might come back and kill her if they ever found out that she squealed on them. They said they would do the same thing to her as what happened to Matthew Shepard."

"Who?" Rodrigo asked.

"Matthew Shepard was a gay person that was killed back in 1998." Helga began to explain. " The thugs tied him up on a barn fence and beat him with a handle of a pistol and tortured him. Then they left him for dead. I'm surprised you don't know about him."

"I don't know everything, Helga." Rodrigo said to her. "But, Thanks." He then turned back to face Eugene and said to him, "Is there anything that we can do?"

"No, I'm afraid there isn't anything anyone can do, Rodrigo." Eugene responded back, as he slumped down in defeat. "Unless she is willing to come forward and identify them, there isn't anything that we can do."

"Stupid question; you can't go to the cops?" Rodrigo asked.

"No, the cops can't do much either unless she identifies them. Besides, the cops have never usually been...helpful to us." Eugene responded back.

Rodrigo just sighed in frustration, feeling completely useless.

"Anyways," Eugene said again. "I'd better get back inside. I'm sorry for kicking you both from the office, but during these situations, it is best if only those that the...victim is comfortable with that should be inside."

"It's ok, Eugene. We understand. Let us know if there is anything that we can do to help." said Rodrigo.

"Thanks you guys." said Eugene, finally smiling a bit in an otherwise sad situation.

As Rodrigo and Helga headed home on the bus, the Latino kid was in deep thought about what he just witnessed. No, he wasn't just pondering about it; he was furious! He seriously thought about scouting the entire school and finding out who the perpetrators were, even if he had to create casualties along the way, but he reframed from doing such a thing. It was a wasteful enterprise, really. As frustrating as it was, all he could do right now was nothing and...hope for the best, for now.

Helga on the other hand, while feeling sorry for the kid, didn't think much of it, as she thought there wasn't much that she could do. While never really an activist, she knew that the LGBTQ community was still facing serious issues with discrimination, harassment and even physical violence. However, she also knew that things have nevertheless improved in the decades that followed since the famous Stonewall riots in 1969. And in a rare case of being positive, she was hopeful that things would continue to improve for the LGBTQ community. Besides, she had other issues going on in her life that unfortunately still remain unresolved.

The drive back to the neighbourhood was long and frustrating for Rodrigo. He desperately wanted to help out and put an end to this. But, he knew that he couldn't do it alone. Furthermore, unless the transgendered teen was willing to risk her life and identify her attacking assailants, there wasn't much that he could do.

_I'm not going to let this slide._ He thought._ There is got to be something that I could do._

* * *

**Just a few responses to some reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: You will just have to wait and see ;)**

**Guest: Gracias! Si, estoy totalmente comprometido en terminar la historia, 'Helga's Transferance' y lo voy a terminar :D**

**Kryten: Well, it could be Ludwig, or it could be someone else ;P**


	4. Chapter 4 - Divide and Conquer

**Two days later...**

It was now lunchtime and Rodrigo had just finished eating his meal and was preparing to head down to the first floor to meet up with some friends and dance away for the remainder of their lunchtime. He quickly made his way down the stairs, opened the doors and turned to head where his friends always met up.

Upon entering the hallway, he saw a crowd and headed straight for it, thinking his friends had already started their dancing. It would have been like any other day, with no fusses or any drama. If anything, the whole reason why his friends met up to dance was precisely to reduce any of the usual stress that they experience as high school teenagers. However, as Rodrigo approached the crowd, he slowly started realizing that instead of hearing the usual music and cheer from the audience, there was instead shouting and yelling.

Instead of them being cheerful and encouraging, they sounded strained and angry. Almost from the very beginning he felt tension being high among the crowd. When he approached the crowd, it dawned on him that this crowd was not there to see a dancing competition. No, they were there to witness a fight.

Concerned as to who was fighting, Rodrigo gently pushed through the crowd to get a better look. As he did so, he saw that one of the teens fighting was his friend, Javier, trying to dodge some punches from a black student. The two teens had already received a few punches from each other, as their faces clearly indicated that. They were either bruised or had some blood. Horrified at this spectacle, Rodrigo immediately threw himself in between the two fighting teens and attempted to stop the fight.

"Javier! Whoa whoa whoa man, stop! What are you doing?!" He frantically looked as his friend, but just as quickly turned around to face the black student who was charging at them.

"Yo dude, stop! What the hell is this?!" He yelled at the black student as he stretched his arm out in order to create some distance between himself and him.

"This ain't yo business! Get the hell out of the way!" The black youth angrily yelled at Rodrigo. Whatever Javier must have said or done, it must have been bad. He looked furious and was out for blood!

"It is my business! He's my friend!" Rodrigo yelled back. "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing happened, Rodrigo!" Javier interjected with a raised and angry voice. "This guy just came out of nowhere and started to pick a fight with me!"

"I'm going to send you to an early grave after making those racist jokes against me!" The black teen snarled at Javier.

"What racist jokes?" Both Javier and Rodrigo asked him simultaneously with confused looks on their faces.

"Don't bs me around, Javier! I know that it was you making those jokes. It's all over the school. You idiot, you didn't even make an attempt to hide it. Good! It was easy to know who it was so I can beat the living snut out of him!" The black teen yelled and attempted to get around Rodrigo, but he held him back, albeit just barely. He was after all taller than him.

"Whoa dude, just stop for a second!" Rodrigo yelled back and pushed him back again.

"Lamar, I don't know where the hell you got your info, but I never made any racist jokes about you!" Javier exclaimed.

"Ya right, your saying that now because you are about to get your a** kicked, you scumbag!" Lamar yelled back.

"Damn it Lamar, it's the truth! Why the hell would I make any racist jokes about you?! I ain't got no beef with you!" Javier exclaimed angrily.

Lamar had heard enough and attempted to once again get to Javier, but Rodrigo refused to budge and held him from getting to him.

"Lamar, just stop!" Rodrigo cried out again frustratingly and once again pushed Lamar back a few steps. He then turned around to look at Javier.

"Javier, tell me the truth; did you actually make any racist joke about him?" he calmly but seriously asked him while looking at him straight in the eye.

"No, I did not." Javier answered back while also looking at him in the eye.

For a few seconds, both friends just started at each other. But then, Rodrigo finally turned around to face Lamar.

"Lamar, he didn't make those jokes about you. I believe him. Whatever rumours you heard were false." he said to him.

"Bull! Everyone here heard that it was him making those jokes!" Lamar yelled back, as he pointed to the crowd.

Rodrigo then looked at the crowd and said, "Is it true? Did all of you hear it that it was Javier that make that racist joke?"

most the crowd nodded.

"Then who here actually heard Javier make that racist joke? Who was actually present with him?" Rodrigo asked.

This time, the crowd just looked at each other, wondering to see if anyone was actually with Javier and heard it from his own mouth. Not to Rodrigo's surprise, no one said or made any physical gestures to acknowledge it.

Rodrigo then turned back to face Lamar.

"Lamar, no one here actually heard him say that joke. Whatever information you heard, it was a lie. Someone else must have said it." he said to him.

Lamar was having none of it and again attempted to charge at him, but then Rodrigo abruptly spoke again.

"Listen here, Lamar." Rodrigo to him, this time with a vicious and deadly tone in his voice. "If you want to fight, you'll have to go through me and I swear I WILL send you to an early grave. Then your friends are going to join in, and then mine, until a big and huge brawl will erupt. Many people will get hurt and you will end up getting suspended, all because of a dumb rumour. Good luck with your scholarship! If you want to avoid all of that, then just walk away; I'll do the same. No harm, no foul."

Lamar initially said nothing, as he continued to angrily look at both Latinos with a deadly glare in his eyes. He was still out for blood, but he was hesitating. He had to think about his future. Was it worth losing it all to a dumb racist joke, especially to that dumb Latino kid? Should he just walk away?

Finally, after some careful consideration, Lamar's angry facial expression lessened a bit, and then finally, slowly but surely, turned around and started to walk away. It wasn't worth it.

Rodrigo continued standing in his place until Lamar put a good amount of distance between them before also turning around and walked away. Then, the crowd slowly started dispersing, some going with Rodrigo's group, while others went with Lamar, while others simply went back to their business.

Rodrigo walked towards their usual spot and sat down while making a big sigh of relief. His friends joined him, feeling also relieved that a big fight was avoided.

"Quien propago esa estúpida rumor que yo dije bromas racistas contra él?" (Who spread that stupid rumour that I said racist jokes about him?) Javier asked in completely confusion.

"No lo se." (I don't know.) Rodrigo responded. "Pero esperamos que escuchamos lo último de eso" (But let's just hope we have heard the end of this.)

**During the next month and a half...**

Fortunately, Rodrigo did hear the end of that event, but not in others. As the days and weeks went by, Rodrigo and everyone else at school started noticing a huge spike in students fighting each other as a result of racist, sexist and homophobic rumours, slanders and blackmailing spreading throughout the school from 'particular' students, although no one was able to pinpoint who was actually spreading them.

At first, students started getting confused as to who or how were these rumours spreading and why. It was clear to everyone that these rumours were meant to provoke people into getting angry; they were not funny in any way. It started out slowly, but the fights soon started becoming more and more frequent.

The rumours were very serious. One involved in 'outing' a closeted gay male student who came from a religious background and had conservative friends. The 'outing' also involved a video that was released on social media, where the male student was explicitly seen to be romantically involved with another male. Although the student denied the accusation, once his parents and his friends found out, they shunned him, which caused even more of a scandal within the school, as the student's former friends were now being accused of being homophobic, causing everyone else to shun them, if not outright criticize them in return.

Another rumour involved a Muslim male student being romantically involved with a Hindu female student. Initially, the rumour only 'outed' their relationship to everyone, and other than just a few suspicious looks, did not cause any drama or any tempers flaring up. If anything, some students were even glad of the hookup. However, violence soon erupted between the female's brother and the Muslim male student when she one day came to school with bruises on her legs and arms. The female teen was known for being involved in heavy contact sports and she suffered bruises in her last game. The next day she hid them by wearing long sleeves and jeans, mostly for aesthetic reasons. Her brother did not notice, but when he heard of rumours that her boyfriend beat her and gave her bruises , he quickly approached his sister and demanded that he show him her bruises. Being ignorant of the rumours, she did, prompting the brother to seek out the boyfriend with his friends and immediately attempted beat him within an inch of his life. Despite her sister's pleas that her bruises came from the game, her brother was so infuriated that he completely ignored her and a terrible fight ensued between his friends and the Muslim teen's friends. Up to ten teachers and the Principal had to get physically involved in order to stop the fight and even had to involve the police. In the end, the parents from both teens demanded from their children to terminate their relationship, for the sake of peace.

Rumours about personal information and secrets also leaked out. Pictures of two lesbians students having sex were leaked out onto the internet and on social media websites. While one had already came out to everyone, the other female unfortunately was still a closeted lesbian. Apart from the humiliation, the two female teens now had to endure the teasing and the harassment. But more damagingly, rumours started spreading that their only male, heterosexual friend had explicitly leaked out the pictures. It made sense to the female teens because he had been in their homes many times and because they trusted him, they made no attempt to lock or hide away any private photos of themselves from their home computers. Despite their friend's plea that he was innocent, the two female teens were having none of it and terminated their friendship, threatening to call the police if he ever approached them again. In addition to this, along with other similar situations, it worsened relations between the LGBQT students and the rest of the heterosexual students, as the former now started treating the latter with serious suspicious, if not outright hostility.

As this trend continued, the students' confusion within the school started to give way towards suspicion. Slowly but surely, it soon turned to anger, and then, outright hate. Within only a span of a month and a half, much of the cohesion and bonds that many of the students bodies and organizations shared with each other were starting to fall apart. Indeed, they were having a difficult time controlling their members. For instance, after much discussion and debate from its members, the LGBQT organization decided that out of safety and peace of mind for its members, whatever events, rallies it would hold in the future, it would no longer encourage straight students to attend. This prompted outrage from the rest of the school, as many felt that by closing its doors, it was setting the LGBQT movement back instead of forward. Many students signed a petition against this decision, calling it complete discrimination. Unfortunately, after many incidents against gays, lesbians and transgendered youths, the Principal decided to support the decision. In addition, after much tension and potentially rising ethnic hatred, the Islamic Student Organization decided to cut all ties with the Indian Student Organization and the Sikh student Organization and was no longer going to be participating in holding any events with those mentioned organizations. They were now on their own.

Unfortunately, things got even worse. Many student friendship groups that had a diverse array people from different cultural, ethnic and sexual backgrounds started feeling the pressure. Some friendship groups actually ended up breaking up, as those students no longer felt comfortable or 'safe' with those that where 'different' from them. However, other groups held firm and refused to be split up by these troubling times.

Indeed the situation, rumours, infighting, paranoia and suspicious got so serious that the school ended up holding a meeting with all of the students' parents to discuss the situation. Unfortunately, no consensus was reached and no concrete plan was ever devised on how to deal with the growing crisis. Some parents were either indifferent, or supported their children's decision to no longer associate themselves with 'certain' students, while others reframed from letting these rumours and rising hate get the best of their children. Whatever plan was devised, it was quickly thrown away by the students themselves as some deemed them to be either insufficient or too radical.

Students that were not directly affected by these rumors and slanders became 'politically' divided by them. These rumors created, if not revealed, the political division that many student organizational and friendly groups already had within their mist. While some directly opposed the rumors and called them stereotypical, if not outright racist and homophobic lies, others discreetly agreed with them, increasing the level of tension and division that were already showing between students.

Even those who were lifelong friends were starting to feel the pressure, as some felt they needed to take sides, while others refused to do so, fearing either reprisal from their peers or because they felt it would only worsen the situation.

To make matter even more dire, some students ended up becoming affiliated with certain Alta-right and Alta-left organizations and had began either discreetly or openly recruiting more students into their cause as a result of these events. The first 'political' brawl broke out in early May, in a Civics class, when leftist students clashed with rightist students over the issue of immigration. Wanting to teach the kids about the power of rhetoric, the teacher held a debate during his class on that day, not knowing how politically extreme his students had became. Almost immediately, the teacher lost control of his class, as students began to shout at each other, followed by insults. Then, a Latino student angrily launched himself against a white student. Feeling like an outcast after the white student supposedly said the 'racist' remark that illegal immigrants are not welcomed into the U.S., it created a flood of violence in the class as others soon joined in from both 'sides'. The teacher had no choice but to ask for help from other teachers and even the Principal had to intervene again.

The mysterious person that spoke to Roger and El came through on his promise; he had used every dirty trick in the book and splintered the entire student body of the school into multiple factions, weakening them of their strength. He replaced friendship, understanding and love with suspicion, fear, and hatred.

Yet, out of all of the remaining diverse group of friends that held firm during this storm, one of them was Rodrigo and Helga's group.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Case of the Blues

**Lunchtime...**

Rodrigo walked into the lunchtime and headed toward his usual chill stop with his friends. As he continued walking, it didn't take a genius to sense the high tension among the students who were there. Although on the outside it looked like as if everything was normal, with everyone busy clambering away with their utensils, looking at the their phones, or chatting away with their friends, everyone was extremely nervous and anxious. The tension was so high in the lunchroom that the students were worried that any small misstep such as a look, or a simple touch on the shoulder could ignite another huge brawl. No student attempted to make any eye contact unless absolutely necessary.

Last week, another incident occurred where a white female student was 'supposedly' sexually harassed by a group of 'black' students. Despite reporting to the police that the men who attacked her were dressed in black, it was somehow misinterpreted and leaked to the students that she was attacked by a group of black students. In retaliation, a group of random black students were ambushed and beaten by a group of students dressed in white, just outside of school property not long after school was over for the day. There was no evidence, nor even a hint of suspicion from the authorities that those black students were the perpetrators. The incident prompted a furious outcry among parents and students as another incident of discriminatory violence against blacks. The result was a huge increase of complaints from non-white students against white students and even teachers from 'supposedly' racist or discriminatory behaviour and gestures.

Despite the tension, Rodrigo continued to walk until he found his table and sat down to eat. He was happy that at the very least, his group of friends were not affected by these increasing incidents of ethnic, racial and sexual orientation violence and division. Actually, the gang attempted to remain calm and continue on with life as usual.

While the rest of his friends conversed away, Rodrigo just sat quietly and ate his food, but noticed Rhonda's worrying facial expression as she texted away on her cell. After a minute, that facial expression then turned to sadness.

Being rather curious, Rodrigo decided to ask her about it.

"You ok, Rhonda?"

*sigh* "No, I'm not Rodrigo." She responded back sadly. "Michael and Jeremy just broke up. I have been texting them both to find out what happened and try to get them back together."

"Oh, this is a disaster!" She dramatically cried out. "They were such as cute couple. I thought they were meant for each other. They even asked me to be their wedding planner when they got married, Oh! I know it was early, but I had so many ideas for their theme. Now, it's all gone down the drain, all because of these stupid rumours!"

This prompted everyone in the group to stop talking and look at Rhonda. Although there was a silent agreement to not really discuss what had been going on at school within the group, fearing that it might make them to splinter as well, they were curious to see how these rumours claimed their latest victims.

"Why did they break up?" Rodrigo asked her.

"Well apparently, Jeremy doesn't think that Michael understands his position as a gay black person and how more vulnerable he is than someone who is white or straight." She began to explain. "Despite how many times he has tried to explain it to him, Michael always seems to downplay the race card as an issue. Worse, Jeremy got really upset with Michael because he believed that whomever attacked that white girl last week were black, which Jeremy says there is no proof. Anyways, long story short, Jeremy says that these cracks in their relationship got started alongside the increased fighting and violence in this school. So, Jeremy broke up with Michael this morning and now both are really upset about it."

"Oh dear, that's terrible!" Exclaimed a worried Phoebe.

"Whilikers, this is getting out of hand!" Exclaimed a frustrated Stinky.

"I agree with Stinky. I'm every so sure that if things continue this way, things will get much worse." Lila commented.

"This is such a terrible, terrible thing to have happened to our school!" exclaimed a worried Peapod Kid.

"I concur. Things have gotten a lot worse. I'm no longer comfortable walking around the hallway without looking behind me." Eugene added with a worried facial expression.

"I know Eugene. But you got us and we'll always have your back." Gerald reassured him as he gave him a small nudge on his shoulder.

Eugene just gave him a little smile. "Thanks Gerald."

"Oh this is all so frustrating!" Exclaimed Sheena. "I can't stand to watch as my friends and this school succumb to violence and hate!"

"Your other friends have been affected by these rumours too?" Nadine asked Sheena.

"I'm afraid so. Two of them won't talk to each other." Sheena explained.

"So it is safe to assume that practically every kid in this school has been in some ways of form affected by these hateful rumours?" Rodrigo asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey guys, don't you think we should do something...?" Sid asked.

"We should." said Rodrigo as he instantly got up. "We can't stand by idly and do nothing while our school get infested with such a poisonous environment."

"Um, I was talking about Jeremy and Michael's relationship. You didn't let me finish." Sid clarified himself.

"Oh." said Rodrigo. "But that's not enough, Sid. Our entire school is being affected by this and we need to find out who has been spreading these rumours."

"But what can we do?" Asked Harold. "We're just a bunch of kids with no leads, no evidence and it's not like the police are going to allow us to help them."

"True, but we don't need the police." Said Rodrigo. "We've solved many issues on our own before and we can do it again. Well, not together of course because I only just got here less than a year ago. But we can do solve this mystery together."

"Oh come on, Rodrigo!" exclaimed Harold. "You know that this is bigger than any of us and we've never dealt with anything like this before. This is not just affecting our school, but the entire country. The only difference is that our school up until now, was not really affected by the rest of this crap."

"And besides," Gerald added. "School is almost over. A quarter of the students will be graduating this year, not to mention that most no longer trust each other, so it's not like this student body is going to be eager to help out."

"Can you ask Fuzzy Slippers and see if he perhaps knows anything about who has been spreading these rumours at our school?" Rodrigo asked Gerald.

"I was already ahead of you, Rodrigo." Gerald responded. "Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come up with anything. Whoever is spreading these rumours must be that good that even Fuzzy Slippers doesn't know who he is."

Rodrigo just groaned in frustration.

"It's not like we have been sitting idly, Rodrigo." Said Lorenzo. "Those we know who have been affected by these rumours, we've tried to help them. I was actually able to prevent some of my friends from splitting up. But I can't say the same for other groups. We can't even help some of our friends and fellow students, how can we fix an entire school from these?"

Despite his determination, Rodrigo knew that his friends had good points. Although wishing to add some encouraging words, he stumbled on what to really say to get them motivated. After a few seconds, with nothing to really say, not even able to come up with a plan, he frustratingly sat back down and sighed in defeat.

_These guys are serious downers when they want to be._ Rodrigo thought.

Noticing his frustrated and sad look on his face, Helga decided to say something encouraging... in her own way at least.

"What are you glooming about, Latino boy?" She asked him. "You heard what Gerald said; a quarter of the students will be graduating this year. That means that a huge chunk of these losers who got suckered into these rumours will no longer be here, so we won't have to deal with those mindless drones who prefer to listen to some idiot spreading false rumours rather than to their own friends. This whole thing will blow over soon. People just need some time apart and to really think just how stupid they were to have believed in these rumours. You'll see. By the time we start the twelve grade, we will be laughing about it."

Rodrigo was a bit taken aback by Helga's optimism. Indeed, ever since the events in March had happened, he couldn't help but realize that Helga had a more positive outlook on things. Although, she tended to drift off a bit to her usual cynical and pessimistic attitude from time to time. But it's a start and Rodrigo was proud of her.

"I hope you're right about that Helga." He remarked.

Yet, despite her sense of optimism, Rodrigo was not sure that it was going to be that easy. A lot of damage had already been done and it will take a long time for things to cool down and heal.

"Me too." Eugene added. "Well, sorry guys, but I gotta run. I'm needed at the theatre to direct another play."

"Same here." Said Park. "I have to go and finish an assignment that is due tomorrow."

"For what class is it?" Peapod Kid asked.

"Physics." Park responded.

"Allow me to help you with that, my friend." Said Peapod Kid with a confident smile on his face. "I'm a bit knowledgeable on the mysterious ways of the atom."

"I have to go too." Said Lorenzo. "I'm suppose to meet up with a friend later today. Thankfully, he hasn't been affected by these rumours."

Everyone then said their goodbyes to their four friends as they left the lunchroom, all except Rodrigo who was too much into his own thoughts to have said his goodbyes. He felt a bit down in knowing that the school that he had come to like for its diversity and open-mindedness had been sliding down the sinkhole in such a short time. Indeed, one the reasons why he and his family left L.A. was due to the amount of racial, homophobic and stereotypical remarks that permeated a good portions of the schools in that city.

_What would Arnold have done?_ He thought to himself.


	6. Chapter 6 - Order and Identity

**PLEASE NOTE: Before anyone reads this, I would like to make this clear: **

**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS HATEFUL SPEECH, BUT IN NO WAY DOES IT REFLECT MY VIEWS, NOR ANYONE ELSE'S. IT DOES NOT! NOR IS THIS STORY JUST A COVER UP FOR ME TO SPREAD HATEFUL SPEECHES AND VIEWPOINTS. THIS IS JUST A STORY AND THERE IS A POINT THAT I'M TRYING TO MAKE.**

**I am asking everyone who reads this to please be courteous and show respect when making reviews or any comments. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL FORUM, so I will not allow anyone to start political or social debates here.**

* * *

**Meanwhile...after school...**

It had been more than fifteen minutes since class ended and Roger and El were waiting for the mysterious person to meet up with them close to the parking lot. A few days ago, they had arranged to meet up on this day to discuss the next step.

"Where is he? He's late." Said El frustratingly.

"Chill. He said he'll come." Roger responded back. "Let's wait a few more minutes."

Even though it was already spring by this time, it was still chilly. Worse, today had been pouring all day. The sky was very cloudy, so it looked like it was already dark, it even though it was not even 4pm yet.

Finally, after waiting another five minutes, the mysterious person arrived and greeted them.

"Finally you showed up." El retorted.

"Apologies. I was making finally arrangements for the latest 'news' to leak out into this school." The mysterious person responded back with a friendly, although with a rather dark smile.

"Well, what do you gentlemen think thus far?" The mysterious person asked the duo.

"Impressive, really." Said Roger. "You kept your word."

"Yeah. You've pretty much sliced this school into many opposing factions." El added.

"What did I tell ya?" The mysterious person said with a smirk.

"So now what?" Roger asked him.

"Have you guys managed to gain any new recruits?" The mysterious person asked them.

"Yeah, we did." Roger confirmed. "We found out that there are more people than we thought we knew who have a 'like minded' approach."

"But we are still relatively small." El interjected. "Plus, there are those that are iffy and don't know which side to choose."

"Good. Would you be able to hold a meeting with everyone you managed to recruit in two days time?" The mysterious person asked.

"Ya, I think we can. But what for?" Roger asked.

"I would like to talk to these new recruits. Have them all meet up somewhere safe in your school after class. And, try to also get as many of those 'iffy' students to come to the meeting. I'm sure I can convince them to join us." The mysterious person answered him.

"Alright. What then?" El asked him.

"Once we have more support for our cause, we must focus on dismantling any remaining groups that are holding firm and are refusing to splinter." Said the mysterious person. "Would you know of an such groups?"

"Actually, I do know of one such group." Said Roger with a grin.

"Good. Let's talk about that, after the meeting." Said the mysterious person.

**Two days later...**

As promised, both Roger and El managed to speak to everyone who had been interested in their cause to come to the meeting. The meeting was set to take place at one of the school's music classrooms. It was a good place to have such a meeting. The walls were thick and these classrooms were usually tucked away from the hallways, out of common sight.

They were not exaggerating when they said that their numbers were small. Roughly Forty people showed up for the meeting, including those that were still 'iffy'. It was an odd mix. While most who attended were white or European descendent, there were also some that were non-white, a factor that the mysterious person, Roger and El noticed.

"Who invited those guys?" Roger whispered to El.

"I don't know, but they don't belong here." El responded.

"Let them stay." The mysterious person interjected. "They could be...helpful to us."

Both Roger and El looked at him surprisingly, but reluctantly accepted the decision.

Once the last person entered the room, Roger closed the door and locked it.

"Alright everyone, just settle down!" Roger called out, prompting everyone to start quieting down.

Roger then made his way toward the front of the class, where the mysterious person and El were standing.

"Alright well," Roger continued. "this meeting was called to discuss about what has been happening at our school for the past month or so. Unless you guys have leaving under a rock, I'm sure you know what I am talking about. I am sure that most of you are now aware that we are at war with certain groups of people that we all know, do not belong at our school."

"The response is simple; we must get ourselves organized and be ready to deal with them. Those rumors and slanders that have been circulating around our school have been a blessing. They have revealed to every one of us that multiculturalism, diversity or whatever crap Washington has been shoving down our throats is a lie. It does not work!" he continued.

"I know there are some of you here that have not yet been convinced by all of this and as a result, have not yet joined our cause. I would like to say foremost, that while I appreciate you coming here today, I also understand why some of you are hesitating. Which is why El and I have brought a special guest to this meeting. He is here to help us get organized and to say a few words today on why we are here and what we must do. I now pass on the floor to Caesar."

Roger than stepped back, while Caesar stepped forward.

Everyone remained silent and waiting for what this 'Caesar' had to say.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Caesar began with a smile. "Thank you all for coming today. These are indeed...strenuous times. But instead of reeling from it, or create a panic, now is the time for reflection on what has been happening to this school, even in this country. This school, has the potential for greatness. All of you have the potential for greatness, to be someone. But instead, we have been dragged down, made to 'blend' in , almost forgotten really, as Roger said earlier, by those up in Washington and by the education system itself into wasting precious time and resources in trying to 'include' everyone. Our 'leaders', if you want to call them that, have spent countless money and energy into convincing us through propaganda and 'science' that multiculturalism and diversity, is good, that by joining together with other ethnic/racial sexual oriented groups, we can become stronger and happier. Well, look where that has gotten you. You only need to look at what has been happening to your school to see the 'fruits' of such labour. In almost two months, a few hurtful, but really measly rumors, and slanders have contributed to the splintering of any cohesion and bonding within your school, if not broken it. So we have on the one hand, tons of money and energy used into trying to get to cooperate with different people, into allowing a hypocritical and conflicting array of mentalities and behaviors to flourish, thinking that it is good, only for this social experiment to be completely slammed into the ground by the a few rumours and slanders. That's pretty pathetic really, is it not? So what does that tell you?" He asked the audience.

One student lifted his hand up and said, "What Roger said; that it doesn't work."

"Exactly." Said Caesar. "It doesn't work. We have been trying for years, decades even, and it has not worked. So this 'social experiment' has resulted in a double loss for this school and for this country. Not only has it not worked, and thereby all the energy and money went to waste, but now we are left with a deflated, hypocritical, if not oxymoronic, culture. We have lost any sense of who we are as Americans and thereby, have lost our sense of respect.

"Isn't that discriminatory, if not racist?" Asked a teen.

"How is it discrimination or racist?" Caesar rhetorically asked the teen. "It's not racist if multiculturalism hasn't worked. It's not an opinion; it's now a fact. Regardless, this isn't about which race or ethnic, or any group for that matter is really superior. That is not what is being advocated here. What is being advocated is in having a unique, cohesive and universal identity in THIS school. A culture that everyone in this school can call its own and not just to a privileged few. Is that fair?" He asked the whole group.

There were some slight nods, but no real opposition.

"Can you explain that a bit?" Another teen asked. "What do you mean by 'having a single identity'?"

"Before I can answer that question, let me ask you and everyone else here, another question; what do the words, 'multiculturalism' and 'diversity' mean to everyone here?" Caesar asked.

Another teen lifted her hand up and said, "Well, they just mean that people can live however they wish to live, in a nutshell."

Caesar smiled at the female teen and said, "couldn't have said it better myself. So what is that, 'letting people do whatever they please'? When we have become so self-conscience about our ourselves that we need to let these newcomers to come here and tell us that we need to change **our **laws, **our **way of living, **our **history and traditions just so they can continue own with their ways of living, the same type of living and culture that **they **left behind? Let me ask you this friends; is that fair?"

"No." Said one teen.

"Hell no." Said another.

"Nope." Said another

A few more also shook their heads and said, 'no'. However, some of the non-white students were not liking where this was going and were opting to leave, a feeling that Caesar noticed and twisted the topic a bit.

"Now again, I'm not saying that one culture is superior over another. What I am saying is that if one immigrates to another country, that person ought to respect the traditions and way of living in that country and not attempt to impose their views on the inhabitants. Didn't the Europeans and other Western countries try to do that onto the rest of the world, with disastrous results for the inhabitants? Obviously history is repeating itself now because this is exactly what is happening to here! It seems to me that these immigrants, the non-whites or non-Europeans are no better than the same Europeans and whites that had inflicted that much damage onto their own countries. Now again I ask you, is that fair? Is that justice or plain revenge?"

"No!" Yelled one teen.

"It's revenge!" Another teen shouted.

"Shame!" Said another.

The non-white teens managed to ease up a bit and now became interested again.

Roger and El looked at Caesar with frowning faces, as this was not the type of speech that they thought he was going to give, but for the moment said nothing.

Seeing as how everyone was now, more or less on their side, he decided to shift to another topic that he knew everyone would agree on.

"And what about these effeminate men or those butch women who can't seem to even make up their own minds about their own sex?" He continued on. "Seriously, what the hell is up with that? They say that homosexuality is biological. Perhaps it's true. But is it also biological that a man should wear women's clothing, or a woman should act sooo masculine that she might as well be a guy? Is it biological for a man to 'feel' that he should wear or act feminine or for a woman to wear a man's underwear underneath her dress?"

"No!" cried a teen.

"Hell no!" yelled another.

"That's disgusting!" said another.

"It is more than just disgusting, friends." Caesar continued on. "It's completely absurd and chaotic. But it has become worse now. We are now forced to be 'courteous' and show 'respect' to these individuals that, for some retarded reason, want to dress up or behave in a way that is completely contrary to nature and civilization. They are not doing this because this is who they really are; they are doing this because they just want to act out more and be rebellious!"

"Exactly!" cheered some teens, as the group was now becoming more excited, including some of the non-whites students.

"What can be more manly than for a man to be with a beautiful woman?" Caesar continued. "And what can be more womanly than for a woman to be with a handsome man? With the way these gays, butch women, transvestites, or whatever the hell they call themselves, are behaving, it is as if heterosexuality is now a crime! It is as if there now no room for a man to and woman to be together, lest it is considered to be 'backward'. Is that fair?!"

"No!" cried out one student.

"Shame!" Said another one.

"And apart from being straight is towards the right state of nature, isn't it also more simple? The world has become such a complicated, confusing place to live in that no one can say anything to anyone without the possibility of saying anything prejudice or discriminatory. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting pretty tired of it!"

"So are we!" Cried the group.

"And what, we are just suppose to let these 'people', if we can call them that, walk around the street, acting as if everyone is alright, while we just act like a bunch of sycophants to them? What am I suppose to say or do to someone who is technically a 'girl', but acts and dresses like a guy? Hi ma'am, or hi sir? Is that fair?!"

"HELL NO!" The entire audience cried out.

"This is why then, we must do away with this so-called 'diversity' and 'multiculturalism'. Apart from the fact that it never worked, we are now stuck to pick-up the pieces that is **our** tradition and **our **culture and fix it. But we can't even do that because the very same people who brought us to where we are now, are still among us, still whining and complaining that they don't get a 'fair share', even though there have been multiple programs, laws, policies and rules that already give them an advantage over the rest of us good hard-working, or in your case, hard-studying Americans! These same people don't even want to be Americans, but we are, and yet we allow them to not only stay, but give them advantages over us! Is that fair?!"

"HELL NO!" Cried the entire audience.

"Then let us rid ourselves of these undesirable so that we can become better people, better Americans and reclaim what has been taken away from us!"

"YEAHHHH!" Cheered the audience.

"By standing together as one, not as many, we can rule! We are strong!" Caesar cried out.

The entire classroom now burst with cheers, whistles and thunderous applauds. Even Roger and El were applauding, albeit with some reluctance.

**Twenty minutes later...**

Once Caesar finished his speech, Roger and El gave the audience instructions on how to proceed from here. To start with, everyone was sworn to secrecy until they can confirm the right time to come out as a strong political force within the school. Secondly, Everyone must do their part to recruit more people into their cause, but to also be careful not to include any spies, or any of those 'undesirables' that Caesar spoke about.

Roger than said that another meeting will be held in a few days, but he will soon confirm the date and time. And with that, everyone gathered their bags and began to exit the classroom and head for home, all except Roger, El and Caesar who stayed behind to discuss another matter. Well, two.

"I don't think we are on the same page here." El said to Caesar.

"How so?" He asked.

"Well for starters, what was the deal about letting those non-whites stay?" Roger asked Caesar.

"The more support we have, the better." He responded while smiling. "As I said before, they can helpful to us."

"How?" El asked him

"If they want to be Americans; like us, then let them. It's all part of the plan, I assure you." Caesar responded back.

"Anyways, there is still a matter to discuss;" He continued. "I asked you both two days earlier if there were any more group of friends that have not yet been broken up and you Roger, said that you know of one particular group."

"Ya, I do." Roger responded back. "They are a pretty tight group, from what I can tell. I'm not sure why, but that group is well known by a lot of students here. Some look up to them. They are the epitome of everything that is wrong in this school; they are a threat to us. Plus they've caused us problems in the past, especially one wetback kid, so it'll be nice if we can 'break' them."

"Who is that guy, this 'wetback' kid?" Caesar asked curiously.

"Rodrigo Castile." El responded. "He's Latino, obviously. He's new to this school and to this city, but he's already developed a well known reputation for being mature and very smart, not to mention for being a goody two shoes, in a more...aggressive kind of way. But he's mostly known for befriending that ugly unibrow, b**** blonde girl, Helga."

"Helga?" Caesar interjected. That name got his full attention. "As in, Helga Pataki?"

"Uh, ya." Roger responded with a surprised and confused expression on his face.

"Is there a black guy named Gerald in that group? Who has a long and tall afro hair?" Caesar asked him.

"Well, his hair is afro, but it is not that tall. His name is Gerald Johanssen." Roger responded.

"What about an Asian looking girl, Phoebe?" Caesar continued to ask him.

"Ya, she is Gerald's girlfriend." Roger responded back, looking now more surprised.

"Is there a football headed kid in that group?" Caesar asked again with an almost snarling tone his voice.

"I haven't seen any football headed kid that hangs out with him, other than that Jewish idiot, Harold." Roger responded again. "How do you know these people?"

Instead of answering Roger, Caesar just started laughing.

"Hahahahhaha, oh this is perfect! Hahahahahaha. I can't believe I finally found them!"

"Uh, did I miss something?" El asked confusingly.

Caesar then stopped laughing and almost immediately, his facial expression turned from laughing to being outright serious and with an almost growl,

"That same group of people that have been causing you both trouble, has also caused problems for me in the past."

"Well then, I guess we should then do something about that." Said El with a smile.

"Yes, we will, but not now." Caesar responded back. "We are still too small in numbers, so we need time to continue on recruiting others into our cause. Once we are strong enough, we will then come out of the shadows and annihilate anyone that is undesirable and who are against us. And what better way to do that than to start with Rodrigo's group!"

* * *

**I understand if this speech was a bit short, but by now I'm sure you guys got what Caesar was trying to say. That and quite honestly, I found it extremely hard to write this chapter.**

**Just a response to some reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: ****I think it just got darker ;). But don't worry, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Along Came Caesar

**A week and a few days later...during lunchtime...**

Rodrigo, Helga and everyone else were in their usual lunch table, eating and conversing away. Although not the topic of discussion, this week has seen less tension and less infighting among the students than in previous weeks. Finally, it looked as if things were finally calming down and Rodrigo hoped for the best.

Unbeknownst to them, three people suddenly entered the lunchroom, clearly looking for someone. After scanning the lunchroom a bit, they saw them and began to walk towards their lunch table. Although clearly there to provoke something, they wanted to ensure that they also do not excite, nor provoke anyone else. They came there to send a message only and Rodrigo was their target.

Rodrigo was sitting at the end of the table, with his back to the main lane of the lunchroom. He was quietly eating away with his friends when a tall, somewhat muscular guy, along with Roger and El got closer and closer to him. At first, none the gang really noticed them approaching until they were literally only a few steps away from Rodrigo. Slowly but surely, everyone started noticing the trio approaching their table, except Rodrigo, who was either ignorant of their presence, or was simply ignoring them. Either way, once they reached their table, Caesar then spoke.

"Are you Rodrigo?"

Rodrigo calmly turned around and looked up to face him.

"Ya, whose asking?" He asked, noticing Roger and El, but ignoring them.

Caesar merely smiled back at him.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Caesar, and I have been wanting to meet you for some time. Actually, I have been wanting to meet all of you for some time." He said to the whole table.

Caesar, by Rodrigo's standard, was tall, although only an inch taller than Gerald. He was white, had a stereotypically distinctive Italian descendent facial features, although it was not known if he was actually Italian descendent. He was muscular enough for people to notice that he worked out.

"Uh, do we know you?" Gerald asked him.

"You should Gerald, but I understand your confusion. I was a relatively minor figure in your life...until now, that is." he said with an evil grin.

While everyone else was confused and dumbfounded as to who this guy was, Helga on the other hand, was busy studying him.

_This ugly guy seems awfully familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I saw him before._ She thought.

"How do you know Gerald?" Phoebe asked him with a confused tone in her voice.

"I know him and you, Phoebe." he responded back, surprising everyone. He then turned to Helga and said, "hello again, Helga" with a smile.

This prompted everyone to look at her in surprise.

"Helga, do you know this dude?" Sid asked her.

Helga merely looked at Sid, but said nothing back. She then turned back to face Caesar, trying to figure who this guy was.

_Ugh man, why does he seem so familiar?_ She thought to herself. _Why can't I remember where I saw him before? _

Noticing her confused facial expression, he smiled at her and then said,

"Perhaps this will refresh your memory." As he lifted his hat to reveal a scar on his forehead.

The second she saw that scar, her eyes widen and her jaw dropped.

"YOU!" she exclaimed.

"Helga, who is this guy and how does he know us?" Gerald asked her.

Despite her shock in remembering him, she maintained her usual calmness and began to explain to everyone who Caesar was.

"He is one of Gino's goons. He was there at Gerald's field alongside Ludwig" She responded back. "Glad to see you still have that souvenir from that day." She said to him with a smirk.

"A constant reminder of that defeat, courtesy of you." He said to her while giving her his own smirk.

"I'm surprised you remember him after five years." Said Phoebe.

"It wasn't just the fact that he was there that I remember him for." Said Helga.

"What do you mean?" asked Sid.

**Five years Earlier…At Arnold's rooftop**

The party had already started. Gino and his gang, as promised, brought in boxes of pizza for the party, sat them down on a table that Arnold and Rhonda had set up and everyone started to take a slice.

The mood on top of Arnold's roof was one of celebration but also an attempt at reconciliation between Arnold's group and Gino's. During the setting up of the party, Arnold had a talk with Gino and both agreed to encourage their groups to try to speak and with each other and let bygones be bygones. Despite just a few hours ago having been enemies, Arnold wanted everyone to leave the party with no hard feelings. Arnold had also spoken with his group, especially Helga, to not antagonize, nor guilt ride Gino's gang about initially siding with Ludwig. The whole point of the party was make amends and forgive, not provoke another war.

Helga, despite wanting to parade their triumph right on their faces, reluctantly heeded to the wisdom of her beloved football head and lowered her demeanor.

As the party continued into the evening, Helga was talking to Phoebe and a group of Gino's when she noticed Caesar sitting alone, eating his pizza, looking somewhat upset, if not annoyed. At first, she ignored him, not thinking much of him. However, as the party continued, her eye kept adjusting towards where Caesar sat. While everyone was enjoying themselves, Caesar continued to sit alone and eat his pizza, not bothering to converse with anyone, not even with members from his own crew. Helga would be lying to herself if she wasn't the least bit curious as to why he seemed pretty beat up during a party. Plus in seeing how distant he was from even his own crew, Helga figured he must be either a loner or a outcast...kind of like her. Finally, after an hour, curiosity got the better of her she approached him.

"Hey, why so glum, chump?" she asked him while having her hands on her hips.

Caesar looked up and was initially surprised to see Helga coming over to talk to him. At roughly the same age, Caesar was about the same height as Helga and rather skinny. He had brown hair with a somewhat long nose.

Helga noticed the scar on his forehead and remembered that during in the heat of battle, she threw a trashcan lid at him, hitting his forehead with the trashcan's sharp edge.

"You've been sitting on that chair since the party started. What gives? Hope you're still not whining about that little scar on your forehead, hehehe." she said triumphantly with a smirk.

Caesar said nothing back and merely frowned at her.

"Alright alright." She said to him. "I'm not here to gloat. I actually came here because I wanted to say…well…you know…" she attempted to explain rather nervously.

"That you're sorry?" Caesar finished her sentence for her.

"Ya, that." She responded as she snapped her fingers. "Anyways, sorry about the scar. To be fair, you put up a good fight. So what do ya say? Let's bury the hatchet?" She asked as she extended her hand and gave him a friendly smile.

Caesar was a bit surprised by her friendliness. Although he knew next to nothing about her, given the way she fought and spoke, he didn't take her as the friendly type. Caesar merely got up, cleaned his hand with the napkin, smiled at her, then shook Helga's hand.

"Sure…" but then started to firmly squeeze her hand, yanked her closer to him, gave her an almost evil grin and then continued, "for now." before letting go of her hand and walked towards the table to get another slice of pizza, leaving Helga there confused.

Although she said nothing, she gave him a suspicious look as he walked away, wondering what could he ever have meant by that.

_What a weird kid_. She thought._ I think I threw that trashcan lid harder than I thought._

Throughout the rest of the party, Helga tried to forget about Caesar, but she couldn't. There was something about that kid that seemed…off.

Even during the battle on Gerald's Field, Helga remembered that while the rest of Ludwig's army was faltering and were becoming weary of being embroiled in a brawl, Caesar was one of the few that still remained committed and put up a strong fight. Indeed, he was able to even trample on some of the smaller graders that were involved, creating a gap within their lines. Seeing this, Helga had to personally intervene in order to stop him, yet even that she was initially unable to do. Caesar was undeterred by Helga's sex and attempted to give her a few serious punches to her face, which she managed to dodge. She herself tried to punch him in return, but he also dodged them. Then, he managed to get close enough to push her onto the floor, thereby trapping her. That's when things got serious. Caesar picked up a broken stick from the ground and approached her.

"Move." He said with a serious tone.

Despite feeling a bit frightened at the possibility of being severely beaten, Helga simply gave him a serious scowling face and stubbornly refused to budge.

"Have it your way." He said as he got closer to her, readying his stick.

Helga backed away nervously, crawling on the ground, trying desperately to think of a way to herself out of this. Luckily for her, she felt a trashcan lid behind her, grabbed it and threw it at him, hitting his forehead and neutralizing him for the moment. It must have been painful because she heard him cry out. Once he came to, he attempted again to fight her, but then seeing as how Ludwig's army was retreating and seeing that Gino was no longer supporting him, he grudgingly had to retreat as well, lest he become isolated.

In the end, Helga had to force herself to remove such thoughts from her head and just move on.

_He's just mad because he was on the losing side. What a sour loser._ She thought._ He'll get over it and move on. There's nothing to worry about. What could he possibly do?_

**Back in the Present...**

"What do you and your two boyfriends want?" Helga asked him.

"Well for starters, I no longer work for that weakling, Gino." Caesar began to explain. "Secondly, I heard that this school had been giving way to infighting, disorder and chaos. So I came here to 'set things right' again."

"Really?" Helga asked him with a raised eyebrow. "You came all the way here to end the stupid infighting and the rumors? Well, you must have a big heart." she said sarcastically.

"Pfft! I don't care about these idiots." Caesar remarked. "It is pretty pathetic of them to actually believe a few dumb rumors circulating this wasted building. A bunch of weaklings."

"Well then, what did you mean by 'setting things right'?" Gerald asked him.

"You don't need to worry your little head about that." Caesar to him with an evil grin. "What I can tell you is that by settings things right here, I'll be righting the wrongs that were committed on Gerald's field five years ago."

"Bahahahahah!" Helga burst out laughing. "You, hahahaha, came all the way here to reinstate Trash Can Day? Oh, thanks for making me laugh, hahahahaha."

Helga's laughing wasn't too farfetched. Indeed, no one else in the group were really taking Caesar seriously. Sure, they were suspicious as to why Roger and El, two characters who had seriously prejudiced views against many people, were beside him, but other than that, they did not have much evidence to suspect that he was a serious threat. Actually, some were beginning to suspect that he was here to try and reinstate Trash Can Day. However, things took a seriously downturn when they heard what he said next.

"No. I came here to destroy Arnold's legacy." He calmly declared.

That got Helga to stop laughing and for the first time, starting taking the teen seriously. Even Rodrigo, who up until now, was not even looking at him and just eating his food, stopped and looked up at him.

It soon dawned on everyone why Caesar was here; he was out for revenge.

"What? Why?" Sheena asked him with a worried look. "You were there, you saw how destructive things got with Ludwig's way of thinking. Everyone was fighting each other. But Arnold showed us that there if everyone got along, there wouldn't be any reason to fight. No one would have to get hurt and no one would have to hide from being who they want to be. Everyone can be included and live together in peace. Even Gino saw that; that's why he stopped supporting Ludwig. Even Ludwig himself started to see that when Wolfgang came."

"Ludwig was a weakling and a fool!" Caesar angrily exclaimed. "Everything he said at the gym locker on that day, the power over others, the privilege of showing to everyone that you are explicitly better than those of 'lower' ranks, of order and having a distinctive hierarchy between those that are superior above all else, all of that, I took it to be true! I...believed in him. While the rest of Ludwig's army was faltering and running away, I was one the few that stood committed to the cause and fought! The unibrow girl over here can attest to that."

"But when push came to shove, even he yielded." Caesar continued, but with a now disappointed, if not a sad look on his face. "Instead of making a tactical retreat, regrouping and trying again, he opted to abandon the entire project! He never believed in his own words. But I did, and that's why I am here; to complete it!"

Both Roger and El just stood there and looked at each other, being a bit confused as to what Caesar and everyone else was talking about, but they nonetheless just watched by the sidelines.

"And besides," Caesar continued. "This talk of peace and equality, didn't seem to have worked out, really. Look at what has happened to your school. Look at what a few rumors and blackmailing have done to these 'people', if you want to call them that. You call this peace and stability? Garbage! This is merely proof that whatever you and that retched football head tried to build, simply didn't work! Multiculturalism and diversity doesn't work! I may have misspoken when I said that I came here to destroy Arnold's legacy. It seems that these students have already done the work for me, hahaha. I am just here to 'clean up' the place." he concluded with a smirk.

It was at this point that Rodrigo realized something. Based on the way Caesar was talking, as well as his reason for being here, and the fact that Roger and El were beside him, everything started to come together. It cannot be mere coincidence that Caesar would just 'randomly' show up at a time when the school was going through this type of crisis, the type that Caesar seems to enjoy seeing. They must be connected!

"It was you!" Rodrigo cried out as he got up, while looking at the trio with a deadly glare in his eyes. "You three stooges have been the ones behind these rumors, slanders and blackmailings!"

Everyone else in the group stood silent for a bit and looked at the trio, while trying to figure just how Rodrigo managed to come to that conclusion. It didn't take very long for them to also see the connections.

"You morons!" Exclaimed Helga bitterly at them. "Don't you have better things to do than to cause damage to people that have done nothing to you?!"

"Ya! What's your problem, anyways?!" Harold yelled at him.

"You three are such a disgrace!" Phoebe angrily yelled at them.

Then everyone else in the group started joining in the accusation, causing a bit a commotion in the lunchroom.

Roger and El started getting a bit nervous, afraid that they might have been discovered, but Caesar remained calm. If anything, he started laughing.

"Hahahahaha, nice joke. Right, like we would even bother in doing such a thing. You're right, Helga; we do have better things to do with our time than to come here and start spreading gossip around. I believe that's Rhonda's job, hahahaha."

Rhonda said nothing other than giving them a serious scowling face for that remark.

"Whomever spread these rumors, I should thank him or her though. I now have the privilege in seeing everything that Arnold and you scumbags fought for, fall apart. All I'm doing is lending a helping hand, starting with this wetback kid!"

Caesar than immediately tried to a jab against Rodrigo. He launched his right arm against him.

"Rodrigo!" Helga tried to warn him.

However, Rodrigo saw what Caesar was trying to do and quickly grabbed his fist with one hand, stopping his punch dead in its tracks, much to the surprise of everyone. Although the force did make Rodrigo to slide a foot back, he nevertheless managed to quickly regain his composure, before then launching himself against Caesar, pushing him very hard, so much so that he had to take a few steps back in order to prevent himself from falling onto the floor.

"That was a warning." Rodrigo said to him with a serious tone.

Despite being shorter than Caesar, Rodrigo was not skinny. He actually had more muscles and stamina that people give him credit for, a factor that Caesar had underestimated.

However he remained unfazed. Caesar simply smiled at him and said, "Indeed it was. And I'm excited to see what you will bring to the table in two days."

"Eh?" Rodrigo said with a confused look.

"In two days time, you and I are going to meet and battle it out. From what I hear, you seem to be the stooge with a new moral compass, and no doubt Arnold's moral successor. I'm here to break that compass. I do that, I destroy this group."

"Well, someone has to be Arnold's successor." Rodrigo said to him half-jokingly, although not appreciating that once again, someone else was now comparing him to Arnold. "When and where?"

Caesar made an evil smile at him, delighted at he took the bait.

"After your first afternoon class, at the park, beside this school. There is a big oak tree in the middle of a field. Very few people go through that park, so no one will bother us." He said.

"I'll see ya there." Rodrigo said to him with a smirk.

Without saying another word, Caesar then turned around and started to leave the lunchroom, along with Roger and El. Once they left, Rodrigo calmly sat back down and finished his food, even though he was now feeling nervous about his upcoming fight.

His friends meanwhile were still reeling from the shock and the amount of information that they now had to process. Everything seemed to have happened in only a span of a few minutes.

"Uh, what just happened?" Sid asked as he held his head.

"Oh dear, I'm afraid not everything was settled at Gerald's field. I would have thought for sure that the after party on Arnold's rooftop would have allowed any wounds to heal. It now appears there are still certain 'old scores to settle', as it were." Phoebe added worryingly.

"Gosh Rod, what are you doing to do now?" Stinky asked him.

"What does it look like I'm going to do? I'm going to fight him, of course." He responded just as he was finishing his lunch and packing it away.

"Um Rodrigo, I'm ever so certain that is not a very good idea." Lila "Apart from the fact that he seems to be physically stronger than you, which makes it a clear disadvantage for you; there is another matter that you need to consider."

"Which is…?" He asked.

"Well, I don't want to add any more pressure on you, but there is also the legacy that Arnold left behind for everyone, including you now, to uphold. I'm sure if Arnold were here, he would have advised to not go down this path of violence. I'm ever so certain that fighting Caesar for the sake of fighting him would not only do more harm than good, but it would also prove Caesar's point."

The rest of the group seemed to agree with her on that.

"You're right Lila." Rodrigo said to her. "That is why I'm not planning on fighting him in the traditionally violent and physical fashion."

"So how are you planning on dealing with him?" Gerald asked him.

"Not a clue, really." He responded. "But I'll figure something out. I'm going to the library. I need to think about this. I'll see ya guys later."

No sooner had he got up when he felt a hand grab his arm.

"And where do you think you're going without us?" Helga asked him.

"What?" He asked her.

"We would be lousy friends if we let you go at this alone, Latino boy." She began to explain. "We've dealt with people like him before and if it's true that he was the one who has been spreading these rumors, and if he has allied himself with those two nimrods, then you are going to need help."

"And besides," She continued with a somewhat sarcastic, but also genuine smile. "we've gotten used to seeing you around here and we would like for you to still be alive when all of this is over."

_Wow, if this is her way of showing that she cares about me…I'll accept it._ Rodrigo thought with a chuckle. _It's kind of …cute._

"Ya Rodrigo. You don't need to do this alone." Gerald added. "We'll be glad to help you out. I'm sure if we all pitch in, we can figure something out."

Everyone else also nodded in agreement.

"No!" Rodrigo exclaimed.

"No?!" Helga exclaimed back with a surprised look on her face.

"I appreciate the help guys, but this is my fight and I work alone." He said to them and then attempted to walk about of the lunchroom. However, Helga came and blocked him, prompting him to stop again.

"First off Latino boy, this isn't YOUR fight." She said to him with a more serious and annoyed tone now. "This is ours. You are just here for the ride. Secondly, aren't you being hypocritical right now?"

"How so?" He asked her.

"What have you been trying to tell me since we first met?" She asked him. "To try and trust people; to never be ashamed for asking for help, especially from those who care about you. Now when it is your turn to listen to your own advice, you just slap it away? Did not your own words mean anything? Or were they just empty ones?" she challenged him.

"My words did mean something, Helga." Rodrigo began to explain. "And I meant them. I'm not refusing help because I am ashamed of it. I'm refusing help because it is not necessary. This situation is different from yours. Yours was something deeply personal and it was affecting you from living life fully. You needed help, which is ok. This situation though, doesn't have anything that I can't think my way out of. I have the confidence to know that I will eventually find a way out of this. If I didn't, I would have accepted some help."

Helga however, was not convinced.

"Not good enough, Rodrigo. This isn't logical; this is just pride. I'm not an idiot. It's the same reason why I never accepted any help." She said to him. "So just like you asked me to put my pride aside, I am asking you put yours aside and let us help you."

"I don't need any help. You are acting as if I've never been in a fight before." He countered.

"This fight is different and you know it." She exclaimed with an irritated, but also worrying tone in her voice. "This is beyond anything personal, so let us help you. Damn it Rodrigo, you could get seriously hurt!"

"I won't." He insisted. "As I said before, I'm not planning on fighting the way he wants me to fight. That'll put me at a disadvantage. I'm not going to fight fire with fire. I'm going to fight with water."

"But…" Helga began to protest again,

"No buts Helga!" Before Rodrigo firmly cut her off. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me. You guys have already done enough for other people and for upholding Arnold's legacy; now let me do my part!"

And with that, Rodrigo quickly started making his way out of the lunchroom, leaving Helga there before she had a chance to continue her protest. However, he had forgotten everyone else.

"Come on Rodrigo, why do you have to be like that?" Sid asked.

"Ya. Come on, what would Arnold have done?" Gerald added.

That prompted Rodrigo to stop dead in his tracks.

"Come again?" He asked Gerald, as he turned around.

"Ya, since Arnold's legacy is at stake, isn't logical to ask what he himself would have done?" Gerald casually clarified his statement.

Rodrigo just looked at his African-American friend with a slight annoyance on his face. True, this was about ensuring that Arnold's legacy would continue on, but it would be completely erroneous that just because his legacy was at stake, it did not mean that he, nor anyone else, should mimic him, especially him!

"That's irrelevant, Gerald." Rodrigo finally responded back. "Arnold isn't here. He is thousands of miles away. So what he wanted, or he what would have liked to do, is besides the point."

"This is different than what happened five years ago." The Latino kid continued. "You were all kids back then. Now, you are emerging adults and are about to enter a world that you know rightfully well is wrought with injustice, cruelty and suffering. What Caesar is trying to accomplish is not just going to affect a few graders, but this entire school and if he gains the ability to influence everyone here, his influence will spread. Five years ago it was about ensuring that no one had to go through any humiliation as getting thrown into a trashcan just because they were younger. Now, it is about saving people's lives by combating racism, homophobia and xenophobia. Granted, what you guys did was important and influential, but that's a far cry than what is at stake now. I intend on ensuring that what Arnold preached five years ago will continue to live on, but I'm not going to just follow him like you guys do."

"Oh come on Rodrigo!" Helga exclaimed angrily, taking offense to his last statement, but she knew him well enough by now what he meant by that. Like her, he was never the type of person that would simply do what others would do without some reservation. If anything, he disdained people who did that. He would make up his own mind before following someone. Additionally, she also knew the real reason why he said that.

"Cut the crap and act your age! You said it yourself, this is bigger than what was at stake five years ago; bigger than you and your damn ego. So whether you like it or not, we're going to help you!"

"I don't need your help, Helga!" Exclaimed Rodrigo annoyingly. "Caesar challenged me, not you, or Gerald, or Rhonda, or anyone else. This is a fight at I'm going alone and I don't want anyone messing it up for me!"

"Excuse me?!" Helga cried out angrily, while clenching her fists, trying very hard not to whack him.

Everyone else continued to look on with wide eyes, surprised at what Rodrigo just said.

"I have my own ways on how to solve my battles and it is not something that I want to involve people in." He continued.

"You are such a damn hypocrite." She angrily said to him, while still giving him a scowling face.

Rodrigo continued to give her a cold stare for a few moments, until he leaned towards her and whispered something into her ear.

"If that's what it takes to make sure you don't get hurt, then so be it." he said.

That made Helga lessen up a bit, as it made her realize that he was willing to even bend his own logic and moral rules to ensure that she would not intervene. He wanted her to remain safe. In the short run, it brought a slight, but welcoming tingling feeling down her spine, causing her heart to skip a beat. It even brought a sense of loving warmth in her body. But it was only slightly. She was still furious at him.

And with that Rodrigo turned around and walked towards the lunchroom exit, leaving Helga standing here.

"Ugh, stubborn kid!" She groaned in annoyance.

"Well gee, I wonder whom he reminds me of?" Gerald said sarcastically to her with a smirk.

Helga said nothing and just ignored Gerald's remark, while standing there and scowling at Rodrigo as he left the lunchroom. She then turned around and angrily walked back to her sit.

"Fine! If he doesn't want our help, then he can go to hell!" She bellowed out.

"But Helga…" Phoebe tried to interject.

"No Pheebs. Rodrigo made his decision and so have I." She said as she sat down, took out her homework and attempted do it.

Neither of their friends attempted to say anything to her. Clearly Rodrigo's refusal to accept her help touched a sensitive nerve and they knew she was crossed at the moment. How did they know that? Because they have never seen her do her homework during lunch time.

"Stupid kid, how dare he not accept our help..." She quietly grumbled away.

While Helga tried to calm down and distract herself, Lorenzo, Park, Peapod Kid and Eugene looked at each other and knowing what each of them were thinking, knew they had to intervene if they wanted to ensure Rodrigo not only succeeded in this endeavor, but comes out of it unscathed.

Given everything that they had heard today, they concluded that the time had now come for the Mitigators to return.

* * *

**Well that wasn't very 'Mitigator' of Rodrigo do take on this task alone. Let's see what the next chapter brings!**

**Just a few responses to some reviews:**

**Kryten: Hmmm, I actually didn't realize that I inadvertently used that name from the Planet of the Apes, LOL. That would have made a great story, but no there are no apes in this story coming to take over the world**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87 : Oops, sorry about that. I corrected it to 'Fuzzy Slippers'. Oh don't sorry, Curly's entrance will be coming lol.  
**


	8. Chapter 8 - Know Thy Enemy

When Rodrigo reached the library, he quickly made his way to one of the unoccupied computers and sat down. He then went online to do some research. Research on what? He had no idea. Whenever he was mentally stuck, his favorite tactic would be to go online and just randomly search, as it often either cleared his mind or he would end up stumbling on an article or website that would help him. Sure enough, the latter happened.

After only five minutes of random searching, he stumbled upon an article called, _Social Media Spared, Accelerated Egypt's Revolutionary Fire_, by Same Gustin. The article explained how the power of social media allowed people to quickly organize and coordinate protests, as well as spread any news on how the Egyptian government would react to them. Any incidents or retaliation by the then Egyptian government would prompt the protesters to quickly download the video of police crackdowns and violence against them, allowing for people around the world to view them and criticize, if not side against the government.

After quickly reading the article, Rodrigo then did more quick research on the power of social media. Through the various articles and blogs that he found, he quickly learned that many people who attempted to cause serious trouble, oppress or discriminate against others, through social media, were exposed by random citizens and as a result, were either fired from their jobs, incarcerated or, most damagingly, marginalized and shunned by society. Rodrigo liked the idea of using social media but had no way to use it. Although he was suspicious that Caesar may have been the one who instigated the rumors and blackmailing at school, he had no proof of his, nor of Roger's and El's involvement.

Running out of options, Rodrigo then thought about what Helga said, about him needed help. Slowly, he was succumbing to the idea, but was still hesitating in involving his friends into this fight. In the end, with lunch time about to end soon and with only two days to prepare, he finally relented; he would ask for help. However, he would not ask everyone to help him. Rather, he decided on asking only Eugene for help. Yes, out of all people, Rodrigo wanted to ask Eugene, not Helga, or Gerald, or even Phoebe, but clumsy old Eugene to help him.

After quickly emailing himself all the articles and blogs that he found about the power of social media, Rodrigo logged out of his email account, logged out of the library's computer, then took out his cell and started messaging Eugene just as he was walking out.

**Rodrigo: Hey Eugene, are you able to meet up right...**

*Crash* just as Rodrigo exited the library, he literally crashed into someone and both teens fell down on the floor.

"Damn it Helga, didn't you see me walking out of the...Eugene?!" Rodrigo began to say before he realized that he bumped into Eugene and not Helga for once.

"Ow…I'm ok." Groaned Eugene, while he was rubbing his head.

"Sorry Eugene, I didn't see you there. Here, let me help you get up." Said Rodrigo as he grabbed onto one of Eugene's hands and lifted him up.

"Thanks Rodrigo." He said, as he picked up his books.

"I'm lucky I ran into you. I was just text messaging you before we bumped into each other." The Latino kid said to him.

"Oh, really? That's a coincidence because I was coming to see you." said Eugene.

"What for?" he asked him.

"About Caesar." Eugene said to him.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about too." Said Rodrigo. "Look, I need..."

"Help?" Eugene finished his sentence for him.

"Ya, I do." he confirmed. "I'll be frank Eugene. I wanted to see you because I was hoping if you can...reinitiate The Mitigators again. I have a way that I can fight Caesar on my terms, but I need the Mitigator's help. You know of my hunch of Caesar being behind all the chaotic the infighting that has been happening at our school. I need the Mitigator's help to find evidence of his involvement."

"I'm way ahead of you Rodrigo!" Eugene said excitedly. "I had already re-started the Mitigators."

"Really? Since When?" Rodrigo asked him with complete surprise.

"A little more than a week ago." He said. "Come, let me show you, but we have to hurry. Lunch time is going to end soon." He continued.

Eugene took Rodrigo all the way to the first floor of the school. Like the rest of the floors, it was a long hall with doorways on each side. So far, Rodrigo was not particularly impressed that the Mitigators' new headquarters was not somewhere more…well hidden. However, Eugene soon took him to a corner where even Rodrigo didn't know was there. It was on the opposite side of where Rodrigo would usually meet his dancing friends during lunch time. It was a well hidden corridor, so unless you were actually trying to find it, chances are you would easily miss it.

Just a little further down, Eugene opened a door, which had stairs that led to another floor at the bottom.

"What is this place?" Rodrigo asked him.

"It's an old part of the school that no one uses anymore." Eugene explained. "Frankly, I don't think any of the teachers even know this place exists. It looks pretty run down."

Indeed, the place seems to have been completely forgotten by the outside world. The paint on the walls were peeling off, there were spider webs everywhere. The floor looked very dirty and it was very dusty. Yet undeterred, both teens made their way through the place. Then, Eugene opened another door that led to what looked like a computer lab room.

The room was somewhat big, and it still had a lot of the old computers, some dating back to the early 1990's. Once inside, Rodrigo saw other people in the room.

"Welcome to the Mitigators' new headquarters." Eugene said to him. "It may not be cozy place, but it's doable."

The room, like the rest of the floor, also looked dilapidated, but one could tell that it had been somewhat cleaned and reorganized to be in use again.

"Park? Lorenzo? Peapod Kid? Is that you?" Rodrigo asked.

"Hi Rodrigo." All three teens greeted him. The trio was sitting and busy typing away on their laptops, except Lorenzo, who was using one of the old computers.

"I'm assuming that you guys are actually busy working on those computers and not playing video games like last time?" Rodrigo asked with a sarcastic smile, fully remembering the last time Helga caught them 'working'.

"Oh yes, definitely my friend." Peapod Kid responded back. "We've become more acquainted with these electronics and are actually using them in gathering data."

"Indeed so. You are not the only one who is suspicious of Caesar's intentions." Lorenzo began. "We have been doing some research and investigation and it looks like Caesar has been seen on school property for months now."

"How did you find out about that?" Rodrigo asked.

"We hacked onto the school's cameras and saw him many times coming onto school property." Park responded.

"I see. Do we know what his intentions are?" Rodrigo asked.

"We know that he has been recruiting students but for what purpose, we don't know yet." Park responded. "But are working on it. We also know that he has been seen conversing with Roger and El frequently. We have seen footages of them talking to each other for long periods of time, but about what, that is still a mystery."

"Peapod Kid came up with the suggestion that we should perhaps find out more about Caesar from Gino himself. He used to be part of his crew for a while, so I'm sure Gino would have some information about him that would help us." Said Eugene.

"Does he go to this school?" Rodrigo asked.

"No. His family moved away from the neighborhood a few years after the events at Gerald's field, so he goes to the different school." Lorenzo responded back. "But, he works at an auto body shop not fair from the neighborhood. My dad has taken his car there and I saw him a few times when I went with him."

"Great!" Exclaimed Eugene. "We can go there after school and talk to him."

"Do you think he will help us?" Rodrigo asked.

"I'm sure he will." Said Park. "After the events at Gerald's field, we have had good relations with him."

"Ok. So let's meet up after school by my locker and go see him." Rodrigo said to them. Just then, as he looked around the room, he noticed that there was only five of them. "Where is everyone else? Does everyone else know that you are guys have reinitiated the Mitigators again?"

"No." Eugene responded. "We have not told anyone yet, for fear of being discovered again. I came to you first because you needed our help, despite you earlier stating otherwise. And I was right about that. When the time comes, we will let them know."

"Thanks guys." Rodrigo said to them with a smile on his face.

Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Uh oh. We better get going. Lunch is over." Said Park.

Everyone then closed their computers, gathered all of their belongings and quickly made their way out of the room and back onto the first floor and then went to class.

**An hour after school ended…**

"So much for it being 'not far' from the neighborhood." Rodrigo complained as he and Eugene, Lorenzo, Park and Peapod Kid got off the bus. It had been an hour since school ended and only just now did they arrived at their destination. Neither they, nor the bus came late, but the trip was long, not to mention also being stuck during rush hour.

"Sorry, I miscalculated." Said Lorenzo sheepishly.

"Well, we're here; that's what counts." Said Eugene with a sense of his usual optimism.

The auto body shop where Gino worked was just across the street. All five teens, after waiting for the traffic light to change, crossed the street. As they got closer to the shop, Rodrigo was getting a suspicious about Gino's 'job'.

"Are you sure this place is legit and not just a cover-up for the mob?" Rodrigo asked.

"Positive." Responded Peapod Kid. "Even though Gino had always liked to act as being part of the mob, he was never really involved in any illegal activities, at least as far as we know. His parents seem to be typical hard-working people and no one ever suspected them of being involved with the mob."

"OK" said Rodrigo nervously.

As they approached the shop, they instantly heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, pass me the wrench, would ya?" Someone called out to his co-worker. "I'm spilling oil here!"

The five approached the vehicle where that voice came from. After a few minutes, the person, who was under the car, got out and started wiping his hand.

"Gino?" Lorenzo asked.

The person turned around and scanned the four teens. After a while, he recognized them.

"Hey, Lorenzo! Good to see ya again!" Gino exclaimed happily. "I would shake your hand, but I'm kind covered in grease at the moment." He continued.

Gino had changed little. Apart from being taller and no longer wearing his 'mob' suit, he still retained his distinctive hair-do, not to mention having a more masculine, but for some reason, a Boston accent voice.

"Not to worry, how you been?" Lorenzo asked him.

"Oh the usual. Going to school by day and working here after. Trying to make some doe, the ethical way this time." He said with a smile.

"You are no longer with your crew?" Eugene asked him.

"Oh they are still here. In fact, they are my employees now. I'm the head of this operation, as always." He said with a smirk.

"Good to hear, Gino." Said Park.

"So what can I do for? You need an oil change?" Gino asked.

"Actually, we're here to talk to you about a former member of your crew." Rodrigo said to him.

"And who are you?" Gino asked him.

"This is Rodrigo Castile. He is new to the neighborhood and goes to the same school with us." Eugene responded back.

"Ah, a newcomer. From where do you hail from?" Gino asked.

"I moved from L.A. just last summer." Rodrigo responded back.

"Ah L.A. Been there to visit; nice city, but don't like to live there. Too big and crowdy." Gino said to him.

"Oh ya, I hear ya." Said Rodrigo.

"So ya, you said you guys you wanted to know about someone from my crew?" Gino asked.

"Ya. He has been causing trouble at your school and we need some information about him in order to handle him." Explained Park.

"You're not planning on putting him in a box, are ya?" Gino asked jokingly.

"Oh god no!" Exclaimed Eugene in horror. "We just need more information about him. He challenged Rodrigo to a fight in two days time."

"Oh that's tough. Do you know his name?" Gino asked.

"Ya, it's Caesar." Rodrigo said to him.

Gino's smile then instantly dropped and then become quiet.

"Oh…him." He groaned.

"I take it based on your tone, he had been a thorn on your side?" Rodrigo asked.

"Ya, you could say that." Said Gino. "Come, let's go inside my office where we can talk."

Gino then escorted all five teens into his office, which was only around the corner. Upon arrival, he closed the door and locked it, as well as closed the blinds.

"Alright, here's the scoop." He began. "Caesar started out in my crew as a very loyal member. Whatever I asked him to do, he did it, no questions asked. Frankly, there was nothing strange about him, other than being a very quiet person. He would sometimes get picked on by some of my other members, but nothing serious. Everything went ok as far as I was concerned, that is until Ludwig showed up."

"What did he say?" Eugene asked.

"Ludwig came and sought me out to talk. He wanted to recruit me and my crew in order to re-start Trash Can day. He told me that as a sixth grader, we were destined to be something more grander than just 'moping' around and collecting pocket change for a few deeds and some candy. He offered to give us something much more; power and respect. He offered to share in the spoils on being respected by the lower graders. He promised that once this was done, no one would dare mess with us. They would be under our thumbs and we can get them to do what we pleased with them. Naturally I found that to be very appealing, as well as everyone else in my crew. I joined him on the condition that my crew would remain under my command."

Rodrigo looked on but said nothing, trying not to pass judgment on someone who was now essentially an ally. Yet, he couldn't help but be irritated that he, his crew, just like everyone else, got suckered into this by playing with their ego.

"Up to that point," Gino continued. "there was still nothing strange about Caesar, until that speech Ludwig gave in the gym locker room. I wasn't there, but you guys were, so I'm sure you still remember what he said. I sent Caesar there to go with Ludwig for 'insurance' purposes and to protect him."

"Whatever Ludwig said on that day to everyone, it struck a chord with Caesar. When he returned and I asked for his report, he went on about how what Ludwig said was right, that we were superior to anyone else, especially the lower graders. Initially, I didn't bother with it, but he kept on talking about it with other members and other students. Some agreed with him and were intrigued, while others just found him annoying."

"So what happened next?" Peapod Kid asked.

"Well, once we got to Gerald's field and the fight started, you guys obviously saw how we were not really 'thrilled' in getting into a fight with a bunch of people dressed up in funny costumes."

"Hehehe, ya. Rhonda showed me a few pictures of those costumes. That would have deterred even me from fighting them." Rodrigo interjected while he chuckled a bit.

"Exactly!" Exclaimed Gino. "Who comes to a fight dressed as a super hero?! And ugly suits, might I add? Anyway, with the battle ranging, I could tell that Gino was one of the few people that was putting up a strong fight. I was actually surprised by his resolve. He even almost beat that girl with the two pigtails, err…what's her name..?"

"Helga Pataki." Rodrigo said to him.

"Ya, her! Well, after the fighting was over, Ludwig left with Wolfgang, and Arnold and I reconciled and offered to buy everyone pizza at my expense, courtesy of our new friendship, Caesar was not happy at all. While we were ordering and gathering all the pizzas, to my surprise, he confronted me about it.

"What did he say to you?" Park asked.

"He demanded to know why I withdrew my support of Ludwig at the most crucial moment of the battle."

"What did you say to him?" Rodrigo asked.

"Well firstly, I wasn't happy that he was questioning my decision. But I decided to humor him and I told him that I became disgusted with the way Ludwig was ordering everyone around like they were his slaves. I also did not agree to get into a fight with a bunch of lunatics dressed in ugly super hero costumes. But the real reason why I withdrew my support was because I was inspired by Arnold's determination to how he put himself at risk for the sake of others. Even when he was outnumbered and was in no position to win, him standing up to his ideals for the 'little guys', not only inspired the lower graders to resist, but it also inspired me. Why fight and hurt others when we can just work together and share the spoils with everyone, you know?"

"That's why I opened my own business." He continued. "Instead of making iffy deals with people and taking advantage of them, I wanted to something nice and ethical for once, so I opened my own auto body shop with my crew. That way, we can make money and help others. In a way, by ensuring that people's cars work the way they should, I'm also saving lives."

Despite his initial animosity toward Gino, Rodrigo was rather impressed at just how much Arnold inspired him, up to the point of getting him to turn over a new leaf. Indeed, everyone else was also impressed.

"So how did Caesar react when you told him this?" Rodrigo asked.

"Oh, that pissed him off even more. He told me that fighting is what separated those who are able and strong from those who are weaklings and those of 'lower rank' should only exist to serve those that come out on top. He accused me of profiting from other people's ideals and told me that I was a Jew, even though I'm Roman Catholic. I reminded him that whatever views he agreed with Ludwig, even the big olf no longer believed in it when Wolfgang came to Gerald's field and took Ludwig with him. I also reminded him that he works for me and not Ludwig and I naturally put him in his place, much to his anger."

"Well, things weren't the same with Caesar after that. He continued to do what I asked, but with no enthusiasm and with an attitude. He would constantly complain about me to everyone whenever given the chance, calling me a weakling and not respecting tradition or whatever crap he would say. Finally, after about a year of putting up with him, I kicked him out of my crew. Told him he was no longer welcomed here."

"Wow." Eugene said with surprise in his voice. "Do you know anything about his background? His family?"

"Not much, to be honest." Said Gino. "He never really talked about his family, whether good or bad, but whatever information I do have, they are a typical family, I would say. Parents have good jobs, he has a brother. I would not say they are well off, but they were not poor either. To be frank, I did not see or hear anything bad or mischievous about him or his family, which kind of surprised me."

"How so?" Peapod Kid asked him.

"I may not be a bookworm, but it doesn't take a genius to know that kids who come from, let's say, unstable families, often become troublemakers themselves." Gino responded. "With Caesar, I found no information that his family was in anyway unstable or abusive, so I'm surprised that he took to heart what Ludwig said about the whole 'superiority' nonsense."

"What exactly has he been doing at your school?" Gino asked.

"We believe that he has been spreading racist, sexist and homophobic rumors throughout our school. It has seriously divided students into taking sides. Whatever friendliness and any sense of community that school, it had now gone down the drain. Essentially, everything that Ludwig tried to do, except much worse." Rodrigo explained.

"Whoa, that's terrible." Said Gino with a shocking look. "You guys need to be careful with Caesar. Despite what he may seem, he is not stupid. He is actually very resourceful and smart. He was one of my top guys when he was in my crew. I used to send him on some of the toughest missions or assignments because he was just that good. Even after the whole thing at Gerald's field, he never failed at any of his missions."

All four teens, except Rodrigo, gulped in nervousness. Despite being calm on the outside, Rodrigo was indeed very nervous, especially since he still didn't have a plan on how to beat him.

"Well thanks Gino, you've been a big help." Said Park.

"Don't mention it." Said Gino. "If you guys need any more help, just let me know and my crew and I would be happy to help you, right fellas?!"

"Yup."

"Totally."

"Anything for any of Arnold's friends."

Eugene was going to ask Gino if he can actually be of more assistance to them, but Rodrigo quickly cut him off.

"Thanks Gino, but I think we can take it from here. If we need more information, we'll let you know."

This prompted Eugene and the rest of the teens to look at him with a surprising look. They thought that Rodrigo would now be willing to accept more help, but realized that he was still not willing to accept help from just anyone.

"Alright, suit yourself." Said Gino.

After making their goodbyes, the five teens, after waiting for a bit for the bus, hopped on and went home. While Park, Eugene, Peapod Kid and Lorenzo talked to each other, Rodrigo sat quietly, reading more of the blogs and articles that he had earlier found about the power of social media. Considering that rush hour was now ending, it didn't take long for the teens to get home.

Just before Lorenzo's bus stop came, he received a text message from someone.

"Guys!" He exclaimed. "I just received a text message from our agent. He has been invited to one of their meetings tomorrow during lunch."

"That's great news!" Eugene exclaimed happily. "Do we know where the meeting will take place?"

Lorenzo texted back the question. After less than a minute, he got his response.

"In one of the music rooms. He hasn't been told yet which room; they will let him know tomorrow."

"Well then, it is best to equip our young agent with a camera and a small microphone in order to get the evidence that we need." Peapod Kid suggested.

"I agree. Let's meet up with him in the morning outside of school property and give him the equipment so he can be prepared to go to the meeting." Said Park.

Lorenzo texted the agent the instruction to meet up with them tomorrow morning.

"Who's this agent?" Rodrigo asked. "Is it Lila again?"

"It is best if we don't say who our agent is, for fear of exposing his/her cover." Said Eugene. "What I can tell you is that it's not Lila. We had asked her before to put herself at risk when she went to spy on Ludwig, so we didn't want to ask her to put herself in that same situation again." He continued. "Plus, we're afraid that Caesar might recognize her and put the whole operation at risk."

"Fair enough." Said Rodrigo. "I take it then that I should not be present when you guys meet up with your 'agent' tomorrow morning?"

"Precisely." Peapod Kid confirmed.

"Ok, but I insist on meeting up with you guys tomorrow at your headquarters to see what evidence your agent will uncover." Rodrigo said firmly.

"Ok, that sounds reasonable." Said Park

Sure enough, Lorenzo's stop came and he got off, but not before making his goodbyes to his friends. Soon after, the rest of the gang got off as well and headed home.

After he got home, ate his dinner and did some homework, Rodrigo decided to call it a night and head for bed. However, he knew that with his date with Caesar creeping ever closer, and with still no concrete plan on how to beat him, he knew that tonight was going to be a long time. For a second, he thought about texting Helga and talking to her, but he decided against it. He knew that she was still upset with her for not allowing her to help him and he didn't think she was in a talking mood. Hence, he turned off his night lamp and tried to get some sleep; he was going to need it.


	9. Chapter 9 - Golpe de Estado

**The next day...**

As soon as his second class ended and lunch started, Rodrigo wasted no time in grabbing his things and quickly making his way to the first floor. However, he soon had to walk the hallway carefully, ensuring that he was not being followed. While no one was looking, he turned around the hidden corner that lead to the Mitigators' headquarters. Even when he was inside, he still made sure no one else followed him. He took a peek through the door window to make sure that no one else was also peeking through it. Once he felt secured, he then made his way into the headquarters.

Upon arrival, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Eugene and Park were already there, busy on their computers.

"Hey guys," Rodrigo greeted them. "what's the scoop? Are we in?"

"Oh ya, we're in." Said Lorenzo. "Our agent just went inside the music room. The tiny camera and mic inside his clothes are on and working well. We should be able to gather everything from what is being said at this meeting and also expose the ringleaders."

"Ok, and then what?" Rodrigo asked.

"We haven't figured that out yet." Eugene responded back to him.

As he took out his lunch and started eating, Rodrigo stood quietly and watched as the agent went inside the music room in order to attend the meeting...

**At the meeting...**

Jason entered the room where he saw Caesar, Roger and El, along with other students, mostly white students standing around and talking to each other. Clearly the meeting hadn't yet started, as more students were coming in. It didn't take long before the room became almost full.

Jason went to the side of the room in order to get a better glimpse of the leaders. Thus far, he managed to keep his calm, but only slightly. He knew that if he got caught, there would be no chance of him escaping and he can only imagine that they would do to him. He knew that when he took on this assignment, this was a serious matter and that his life would be stake. Yet, being inspired by how Eugene, Arnold and everyone else stood up for him and his friends five years ago, this was the least he could do to return the favor. Eugene had asked him to do this job because he figured since Jason is an unknown student, the leaders would have no reason to suspect of him being part of the Mitigators. Even if Caesar saw him at Gerald's field, that was five years ago and Jason had grown and physically changed somewhat in order for Caesar to not really recognize him.

Once he found a comfortable spot, Jason patiently wait for the meeting to get started. He didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, everyone settle down and let's get this meeting started!" Roger called out to everyone in the room, prompting the conversations to start dying down. Jason took this as his cue to turn on the small mic and camera that he had hidden in his clothes, letting it start recording.

Once the room went quiet, Caesar stepped forward and began to talk.

"Today, I would like to make an announcement. We will no longer have to hide and hold these meeting in the shadows. As of tomorrow, we will be coming out and make our movement publicly known to everyone in this school. It is time for make our presence known and to let everyone know that we are here."

There was grumbling and whispering within the room. Some were glad with the news, while others were unsure of it, a fact that Caesar recognized.

"I know there are some hesitations about coming out of the shadows. There is a lot at stake here, which is understandable. But let me assure everyone in this room, that you are not alone in this struggle. Our ranks have swelled within the last few weeks, with many youths dedicated to our cause. In addition, there are others out there who are also organizing themselves, preparing for the eventual revolt that we hope to take place soon. Yet, they also hesitate in coming out as well, for fear of reprisals by the authorities and our enemies. But let me ask you this: what good does it do if we continue to mop around underground? Why bother having these meetings, making any speeches about how this school and indeed this country is falling into chaos and immoral behaviour if we are not going to do anything about it?"

"In order to do something about it, we have to take a risk. Yet if we are not prepared to risk it, then why bother at all? I am prepared to take such a risk; I am now asking all of you to do the same. I would not be asking you this if I know that there would be some chance of succeeding in our cause. Myself, Roger and El have been in contact with other such students groups in other schools and in certain organizations who will support us if we come out. It would not just be us, but a whole sworn of us in coming together, united under a single objective; to rid ourselves of these immoral and undesirable traits that have been plaguing this school and our country for far too long. It is now time to take back and assert our traditions, our way of life and our culture, as it should be!"

Everyone started applauding in agreement and nodding, including Jason.

"So how do you propose we come out?" A youth asked.

"Good question." Caesar began to explain. "Have any of you heard or know of Rodrigo Castile?" He asked.

There were only a few nods, but most people either shook their heads or simply stood still. Jason stood still.

"What about Helga Pataki?" He asked.

This time there were more nods.

"Well, Rodrigo is mostly known for befriending the angry blonde girl, but I assure you, he is much more than that. He, and his group of friends, are a threat to us. They are everything that we hope to eradicate from this school. Not only that, their group have already hindered this movement's progress years back. They are the epitome of contradiction and disorder

and they are trying to spread their damaging mentality onto the rest of the school. Seriously, a black guy with an Asian, what is up with that? Does such a couple even seem logical to any of you?"

Some shook their heads, while others made facial expressions that clearly showed their disapproval of different ethnic/racial groups mixing.

"Well, this is how we are going to make ourselves known; tomorrow, after the end of your third class ends, I will be fighting this Rodrigo Castile at the park beside this school. The goal is here to demonstrate to their wretched group, and to everyone else still resisting that diversity, and any form of mixing between different people that have no commonalities and immoral, sexual behaviour is no longer to be tolerated. We have seen enough evidence in this school and in other parts of the country that having people mix with each other is detrimental to their cultures, as well as spawning a mixed, confusing new mentalities that no longer has any logic."

"Once Rodrigo is beaten," he continued. "we will then proceed to protest on school property and demand to not only to segregate our schools, but to also make illegal any kind of behaviour that runs contrary to the traditional masculine and femininity traits. Once we arrive there, we will be reinforced by other groups from other schools and organizations who will meet us there to protest alongside us. I do want to add that this may be a simple protest. There may come a time when all of you may have to fight for our cause, so I just want to warn everyone to expect to knock a few skulls around, literally."

Much to Caesar's satisfaction, many of the youths at the meeting were seemed glad at the prospect in getting into a brawl with those that dare try to corrupt their values.

"It is time, ladies and gentlemen." He continued to talk. "It is time to finally be rid of this ridiculous facade called multiculturalism that only spawns moral wickedness and corruption with conflicting and disparaging views and values. It was a fools' hope to ever think that other cultures can come here and tell US what do, what to think, how to think! What these other people do in their countries is their business; that goes with us! We will rid this school of this filth and install true American values and ideas, one that is for all to aspire to include as their own!"

There was a thunderous applause and cheers from among the crowd, except from Roger and El, who were standing behind Caesar and clearly not happy.

**Back at the Mitigators headquarters...**

All five teens present watched on with horror and worried look on their faces.

"Oh man, there's more of them?! And they are meeting up at our school?!" Exclaimed Park with a dismayed look.

"This is just terrible, just terrible! How did we come to this?" Peapod Kid bemoaned.

"This is worse than we thought." Eugene sadly commented.

"It is. We have to stop them." Rodrigo remarked. "Do you guys think we have enough evidence here?"

"Well, the footage only proves that Caesar, Roger and El are the ringleaders of their 'movement' and they are seen to be spreading hate speech and organizing a hate rally, but it doesn't proof that they were the ones that started spreading those rumours and blackmailings at our school." Said Lorenzo.

"Maybe that's good enough." Said Eugene. "We may not be able to do much with it, but I'm sure the police can.

Rodrigo however, was not convinced.

"No." he said. "There has to be more. I know those three are the ones responsible for dividing everyone with hateful rumors. We need more evidence. Can you communicate to your agent to see if he can somehow get closer to those three or something?" He asked.

Lorenzo grabbed his cell and texted to their agent a message.

"Ok, I asked him to see if he can closer to them.." he said.

**Back at the music room…**

Caesar went on a little while longer, giving out a bit more details about the protest rally that was being organized tomorrow after his victory of Rodrigo. He had asked everyone to inform those who were not present at the meeting about the upcoming fight and protest tomorrow and made clear that every person that shows up, makes their movement that much more legitimate and inspiring.

Roger and El then had the chance to also say a few words to everyone, which Jason managed to record everything.

Then, the meeting ended and everyone started to leave. Jason had seen Lorenzo's text but had not been able to come up with any idea on how to get closer to them. He had only recently attended their meetings and he did not have anyone there to vouch for him.

While everyone started to slowly leave, Jason decided to approach them and attempt to convince them that he was an ardent believer in everything that they stood for and he wanted to take on a bigger role in this movement. He hoped that would earn their trust to perhaps 'share' a few secrets with him. However, as he was approaching them, he noticed that there was a closet nearby that was somewhat opened. He also noticed that Caesar was busy talking to Roger and El, with no one else seemingly staying with them to converse, other than giving them a few compliments or asking questions. Thinking that this was perhaps a better option, he cautiously made his way toward the closet and when no one was looking, quickly went inside and hid himself from view, waiting for everyone to leave. He didn't have to wait long.

Once everyone left, he quietly adjusted the closet door to ensure that he would be hidden from view, but did not completely close it to ensure he would be able to record what the trio would talk about. Needless to say, Jason was now petrified. If he were caught, he would have no way out and God knows only what Caesar would do to him.

"Please don't let them find me, please don't let them find me…" he whispered to himself.

He quickly adjusted his mic and mini camera in order to record their conversation.

"So, the plan is simple;" Caesar began. "I beat Rodrigo tomorrow, then we make our way into the school, attack those who are against us, especially Rodrigo's group and then meet up with our allies at the front of the school."

"I get everything, except you fighting Rodrigo." El said to him. "What is the point of you beating him up at the park tomorrow?"

"The point is to break him and his group." Caesar began to explain. "It is not really a physical confrontation, as much as a moral one. If you want change, you need to be prepared to use violence to ensure our movement's success. I would have preferred to fight someone who used to be in their group, but seeing as how he is no longer with them, Rodrigo is the next best option. His group has considerable influence with the lower graders and if we want to ensure that more people come to our cause, then we need to prove to them that people like Rodrigo and his group and what they stand for are the wrong side to be in. So long as they remain a beacon of hope for others to unite, we cannot move forward. We need to show not only our strength, but our moral superiority over them."

"I thought you said that all of those rumors, blackmailings and personal leakage that you did over the last two months broke this school." Roger commented.

"It did; the information that you two provided me about the students was crucial in order to ensure they are now divided, weak and demoralized. Many of them are ripe to come to our camp. They now need something else to believe in, something that 'reminds' them of their own superiority over others. They are broken, but I still do not want to take any chances in giving them any opportunity to unite. That would be stupid on our part."

"I never did ask you two how you both managed to get me amount of information that you guys provided me about these students. I am actually impressed at just how personal and detailed they were. It naturally made it easy for me to spread them and reveal their moral weakness." He continued with an evil smile.

"We have well established connections throughout this school." Roger responded with a smirk. "Many of the information that we gave you about those students came from gossipers that we are acquainted with. But we also received help from other students who shared in our beliefs and wanted to help."

"Well I'm glad that for once, gossiping had proved its worth." said Caesar. "The rumours and blackmailings that I did merely proved even those who were 'open-minded' still retained old stereotypical, if not prejudiced views about other people. They were idiots to have believed in this stupid ideal that everyone can live together in peace and harmony. How long did it take you to convince those gossipers to spill out their secrets?"

"Not long." El responded back. "After our first encounter, we just had to either pretend to be 'interested' in what they had to say, or just asked them to divulge those secrets. It really doesn't take much to get a gossiper to spill things. That's what they do."

"Speaking of which," Roger interjected. "What are we going to do about these non-whites within our mist?"

"What about them?" Caesar asked. "I told you that they are going to be useful to us."

"How?" Roger asked. "You need to explain that to us, as well as to our allies who will arrive tomorrow. They will not be too thrilled if they see these 'people', if we are to call them that, within our ranks."

"I'm aware, and I have already told them." Caesar responded. "As I said, it is all part of my plan to divide and conquer and what better way to demonstrate that than by getting these amoral and inferior ingrates to fight their own kin? I used their homophobia to get them to our side so we can use them as 'shields' to fight their own kind. This struggle will no doubt create casualties and I want to ensure that our side does not suffer unnecessary causalities. Once we have triumphed, we will discard them, thereby getting rid of any remaining inferior races, with us standing above all else." He said with a smile.

"That's cruel," said El, "but brilliant." With a smile.

**Back at the Mitigators headquarters...**

"That's it!" Exclaimed Rodrigo. "We got them! I knew it was them!"

"Perfect!" Said Peapod Kid. "Now all we need to do is figure out what to do with the footage. Do we go to the authorities?"

"I think that's the most appropriate thing to do." Park agreed.

"It is, but I have a better idea." Said Rodrigo. "How about we expose them to not just the police, but to everyone? We can make sure that they will have nowhere to hide."

"How?" Eugene asked.

"We use social media. We can upload this footage to every social media website, thereby exposing them as the culprits for spreading all of these hateful rumors and slanders."

"I suppose we could," Peapod Kid commented while thinking about it, "but what would be social consequence of this supposed action?"

"I have been doing readings on the social influence of using social media to spread certain message or events happening." Rodrigo explained. "I have read how the Egyptian masses used social media to not only coordinate rallies and various political groups as a cohesive force to overthrow their government, but they used social media to spread how the government itself retaliated against them, which only served to swell their ranks even more and allowed world governments to withdraw any support for the Egyptian government. It only took about a year or so of protests to ultimately overthrew the government. I say we do the same; we use this footage to expose their deeds to everyone, including those within their own ranks. Everyone in this school deserves to know that they have been deceived, as well as make it known just how deep this movement is penetrating into society. We do not just need the police to stop it, but everyone else as well. Everyone needs to know and do their part to stop the spread of hate."

"Hmm, good point." Remarked Eugene.

"That's not a bad idea." Park commented.

"But will that be enough?" Lorenzo asked.

"Nope." Rodrigo responded. "We will also record the fight that I will be in tomorrow with Caesar."

"What would be the purpose of that?" Peapod Kid asked.

"We will record it in such a way that it would seem to everyone who watches it that a white person is beating up an innocent Latino bystander. Perception will be the key to ensuring that that footage succeeds." Rodrigo explained.

"You mean you're not planning on actually fighting him?" Eugene asked.

"No. I was never planning on doing that. As I said before, that would put me at a disadvantage and despite what you may believe, I wish to reframe from violence unless it is necessary to do so." Rodrigo explained. "Do we have anymore cameras or cell phones to record the fighting tomorrow?"

"Well, there are these old cameras that are over there and I do have a few old cell phones that we can use to record the fight tomorrow." Said Peapod Kid. "The problem is how to coordinate all of these various devices together and edit them into a single video before it can be ready to be downloaded onto any social media."

"You guys don't know how to do that?" Rodrigo asked.

All four teens shook their heads.

"It's a bit complicated when using these old cameras." Lorenzo said to him. "They work, but I'm not sure if they are equipped to be used with any modern program that we have. That would require someone who is a bit more technical."

"Damn it!" Exclaimed Rodrigo frustratingly.

"Well, I'm sure we can figure out how to set them up by tomorrow." Eugene said. "Once we let everyone else about our plan, I'm sure we can come up with something."

"Everyone else?" Rodrigo asked.

"Ya; Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, Harold. You know, everyone else in our group." Eugene responded.

"No." Rodrigo said firmly. "We don't include them."

"Huh? Why not?" Park asked. "We need all the help we can get."

"Look," Rodrigo began to explain. "This is no longer about stopping a stupid tradition of a few dumb older kids from throwing younger ones onto trash cans. This is now much more serious and dangerous. A lot of people are going to get hurt by this footage and they could retaliate after the fact. I don't want to include any more of our friends and put them at risk in getting hurt. Frankly, I didn't want to even include you guys into this, for the same reason. But seeing as how I need help, I came to you nevertheless. But that doesn't mean that I'm thrilled about it. I only feel better about you guys being involved knowing that neither of you are going to be at the park tomorrow. All four of you will be here busy editing the footages and getting them ready to be downloaded onto every social media. And with this place being a secret, I feel better that you all are out of harms' way. If we include the rest of our friends, I don't expect them to be sitting here twiddling their thumbs."

All four teens stood silently as they thought about what Rodrigo had just said. Although skeptical about not including the rest of their friends, he did have some points. Eugene however, was not entirely convinced.

"Well, that's awfully nice of you Rodrigo to care that much about our friends," he began to say. "but is that the only reason why you don't want to include them?"

"No, that isn't the only reason why." Rodrigo admitted. After making a sigh, he began to explain.

"Gerald and I are good friends. Yet despite that, you guys know that we have clashed a few times because we have different viewpoints. Frankly, I do not consider him bold enough to accept this plan on using social media to expose them without protesting. He will probably place his bet on just going to the cops. Even more so, because he and Arnold were technically the 'leaders' of the Mitigators five years ago, I suspect that he will attempt to take on the leadership role again, which to be honest, is valid. But because I don't think he'll agree with my plan, I'm afraid he and I might get into a disagreement over this and end up dividing ourselves as what happened between him and Arnold five years ago and I don't want to create any lasting rifts between us. Not to mention that if that were to happen, it would put this whole operation in jeopardy, which is actually what happened five years ago. Gerald's and Arnold's bickering nearly allowed Ludwig to almost win. The fight with Caesar is tomorrow and I do not have time to argue with anyone about how to proceed with this. Unlike five years ago, it is not just everyone else's life on the line, but mine also. There is no time for bickering."

"This is even truer with Helga." He continued. "Granted, she has changed since we met last September, you guys have seen that. Yet, she is still a bit of a loose cannon and knowing her, she will most likely provoke a brawl with Caesar, a fact that I am trying to prevent from happening at all costs. Plus, she has never really been a team player unless she takes on a leadership role and just like with Gerald, I doubt she will simply follow instructions without trying to influence them in her own way."

"Which then brings me to Phoebe. Because I am essentially excluding her boyfriend and best friend, if we brought her in, I doubt she will remain quiet and not inform them. Basically I can't trust her to keep this quiet. Why would she?"

"As for the rest of the group, I don't want them involved because there isn't anything else that they can do, really. Neither of them are tech savvy, so they can't help in coordinating these various cameras into one line of communication. And I DON'T want anyone to get involved into my fight with Caesar tomorrow. They will have their supporters with them at the park and if anyone else intervenes from my side, they will send reinforcements, which will then become a big fight, the type of fight that Caesar knows that we cannot win."

"What? You're planning on heading to the park alone, without any backup? Alone?" Park asked with a stunned look on his face.

"Yes." Rodrigo responded. "Caesar is expecting not just myself, but everyone else in our group to come to the park and support me. He doesn't just want to beat me, he is also targeting all of you! That is why I didn't want anyone else involved in this plan. But if I go there alone, it will throw him and his plan completely off. Plus, that will create the perception that everyone will be ganging up on me. Not only will it generate sympathy for this 'poor helpless Latino', but it will also prevent any serious fight from breaking out. As long as I show up alone, Caesar will not be able to send in any reinforcements, hence that will put us at a strategic advantage and help us record the fight in the way that we want it to."

"But you'll get hurt!" Eugene protested.

"I know, and that's the point." Rodrigo said with a mischievous smile. "Only I will get hurt, which you guys will record and ensure it is perceived that they are the aggressors. I will only get hurt for a little while, giving you guys enough time to complete the video, which we will launch it throughout all the social medias and expose these people for what they really are; hateful, cowardly and despicable human beings."

"Rodrigo, no! That's a huge risk that you are taking." Peapod Kid said.

"I know, but what choice to we have?" Rodrigo responded. "Even if we include all our friends, we are still heavily outnumbered, so it makes no sense for them to even show up at the park."

"What about also rallying the rest of the students at our school?" Eugene suggested. "Once we explain to them who has been the real culprit behind these hateful rumors and slanders, I'm sure we can rally a bunch of them into our cause."

"Hmm, that does sound plausible," Peapod Kid added. "I mean, it will take a while to gather a number of students, but with the right rhetoric and trust, I'm also positive that we can gather enough troops. We just need to convince them to take their anger out at Caesar."

"You guys have got to be joking." Rodrigo interjected with an aggravated look.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eugene asked.

"That is pure fantasy. Apart from that fact that bringing more students to the park will obviously provoke everyone into a HUGE fight, a fight much bigger than one Gerald's field, we are only adding fuel into the fire. Don't you guys see? Caesar wants a big fight at the park! He wants to show his strength and get rid of any remaining opposition within the school. That plan is completely feeding into his plan! Plus, even if that were not the case, we can't trust any of these students at our school. They are too divided and demoralized for them to help us. It is aggravating, if not despicable, that they have allowed themselves to stoop this low; to start hating on each other and creating serious divisions with themselves. I agree one thing with Caesar. Those students that preferred to listen to these rumors and hateful slanders rather than to their own friends and next of kin are weak! They can't be trusted to show up and help us."

"What about your friends that you see during lunch time?" Eugene asked.

Rodrigo rolled his eyes, irritated at being reminded of them.

"They were not immune to Caesar's rumours. They are now bickering among themselves and divided into various regionalist factions. You know, Mexicans vs. Central Americans, Argentineans vs Brazilians, El Salvadorians vs. Hondurans etc. I got fed up and left. I told them to contact me when the stopped being childish and stupid. I'm not going to put with this attitude of allowing mundane differences to come between Latinos. It's pathetic, really. So, I'm not going to even bother with them."

"Not even Gabriela?" Park asked.

"Not even her." Rodrigo firmly responded.

However, not wanting to be too inflexible, Rodrigo compromised a bit.

"We can include are Rhonda, Nadine and Sheena to our plan. They are really involved in social media for their projects and own causes and they have large followers, which we can use in helping us spread the footage even faster. So, let us only include those three."

"We have to be smart about this and not just focus on numbers." Rodrigo continued. "You guys ended up fighting Ludwig and his supporters, but only because you did not have any other choice. You had to intervene in order to protect the lower graders, which I'm not criticizing you guys at all. I would have done the same thing. But this situation is different because unlike five years ago, we now have an actual concrete plan."

The four teens were bit surprised at how adamant Rodrigo was in not including the rest of their friends, or anyone else for that matter. Although they felt the reasons that he had given them were justifiable, they were nevertheless a bit flabbergasted, if not irritated, at how this relative 'newcomer' into their group had just essentially took over their group in a golpe de estado (coup d'état).

Eugene was especially a bit nervous, if not still weary, about not including anyone else. Apart from the fact that he still felt they needed help, he didn't feel right in excluding the very people that ensured the Mitigators' previous success.

Despite their reservations, after some thought, the four teens nevertheless conceded to Rodrigo's 'wisdom'. The only thing that convinced them to do this was because Rodrigo was putting himself in jeopardy, yet remained stern to not include anyone for help. It sounded crazy, but if he was confident that his plan could work, than that reassured them. There was a lot of stake for him.

"Ok Rodrigo, you win. We won't include anyone, save for Rhonda, Nadine and Sheena." Said Eugene.

The rest of the group nodded.

"Thank you." Rodrigo said to them.

Just then, Lorenzo received a notification from their agent, informing them that Caesar, Roger and El had just left the music room and he was now about to leave as well. Lorenzo texted him back to congratulate him on the information that he recovered and to safely get out of there.

"Well this all sounds like a good plan, except we still don't know anyone who can help us connect all of these devices into an effective recording session." Park said.

Just then, Rodrigo thought of someone who could help.

"Actually, I may know someone who can help. I'll have to ask him if he willing to lend a hand. Let me talk with him and I will let you guys know soon."

"Ok. In the meantime, what should we be call this operation?" Park asked.

"How about 'Operation Say Cheese'?" Peapod Kid joked.

"Hahaha, I like that." Rodrigo said with a chuckle. "Let's call it that, 'Operation Say Cheese'"

"Sure. Sounds like a catchy and ironic name." Eugene commented.

"Works for me." Peapod Kid confirmed.

"Me too." Said Park.

*rrrinnnngggg*

"Uh oh, lunch has ended. We'd better get going." Said Eugene.

Everyone started packing up, turned off their computers and laptops and then made their way out of their headquarters.

**Later that day…after school…**

Rodrigo sat quietly on the bus, thinking about his upcoming battle with Caesar. He left school much later than everyone else, so he was pretty much alone on the bus. He had texted Helga earlier today, wishing to talk to her, but had thus far, not responded back to him.

_Wow, she must really be upset with me if she hasn't yet texted me back._ He thought. _Once all of this is over, I'll talk to her and hope she can forgive me for not including her._

Rodrigo was not exaggerating about his concern in getting his friends involved. He cared for them enough that he could not stomach the fact in seeing them get hurt because of him. With Helga, his concern ran even more deeply. Although knowing that she would be able to get out of any physical confrontation, he really did not wish to put her in harms' way; he cared too much for her to allow that to happen.

Yet, as he sat there on the bus, he could not but help to think of his ulterior motives in not wanting to involve his friends.

With Patty, Sid, Stinky and Harold, Rodrigo had little trust in them. He considered them morally weak for having initially sided with Ludwig and getting suckered into his rhetoric. Although they did eventually see the errors of their ways, Rodrigo felt they were only swayed by Arnold's moral influence, as well as his brave stand to his principals, a factor that has been constantly annoying Rodrigo about his friends.

_They need Arnold to stand up for themselves. _He though annoyingly._ They can't do it on their own_. Rodrigo thought.

Yet, there was more. Because they were white, he was afraid that they might get influenced again, this time by Caesar's moral and racial superiority rhetoric and side with him. Rodrigo feared if that were to happen, he felt he would be obliged to permanently terminate his friendship with them and just as with Caesar, would show them no mercy. He had forgiven them for siding with Ludwig; he would not give them a third chance. He did not want to take that risk.

Even with Helga, Rodrigo found her moral principles to be not weak, but...questionable. Ever since he heard their story, he had wanted to ask her why she joined the Mitigators in the first place. Was it because she actually believed in their cause, or simply because of her love for Arnold? Knowing her deep love for the football head, he reasoned that it was probably the latter. Besides, Rodrigo knew how Helga ended up abandoning the movement at a crucial time. True, she got very frustrated with their lack of initiative and concrete plan of action, but he was nevertheless afraid that she might do it again if things don't go her way. That didn't give him any confidence in trusting Helga.

As he continued to think his reasons for not wanting to get his friends involved, his mind soon drifted into a much more selfish territory. For a while, he had been resisting into even thinking them, not willing to admit that these were also the reason why he wanted to battle Caesar alone. But as time went by, he couldn't but help feel this way.

Essentially, he wanted all the glory to himself. Despite Eugene, Park, Peapod Kid and Lorenzo being the founders of The Mitigators, Rodrigo knew that Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, and Helga were the ones that put the Mitigator movement into action and hence, were the most influential. Rodrigo was not joking when he said he was mentally kicking himself for not being here five years earlier and he wanted a piece of that glorious legacy. He would have felt proud to have stood beside Arnold, Gerald and Helga at Gerald's field for such a worthy and historical cause. Now he felt he had his chance in that same spotlight. Hence politically speaking, he got rid of the competition and took over the organization for himself in order to make his own mark.

Yet, despite filling his ego with pride, he still felt guilty about excluding practically half of his friends from the Mitigators.

_Am I being too harsh?_ He thought. _Should I allow them to be involved? Maybe I should..._

This was typical of Rodrigo. Having almost always been a loner, he was never able to fully trust people into helping him. He had always felt people never really understood him, especially about his political and philosophic thoughts, hence he always felt isolated and alone, which he eventually ended up getting used to.

In the end, he shook if off and focused on the task at hand and remained adamant to not include them. Just then, he cell vibrated. He opened it and saw that the person that he wanted to speak to had just asked him to call.

Without hesitation, he dialed the number, heard it ring a few times until the person pick up.

"Halo? Salut, c'est moi. J'ai besoin ton aide, mon ami." (Hello? Hi, it's me. I need your help my friend.)

* * *

**Just a few responses from reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: You're welcome.**

**Kryten: Ya, he can be pretty stubborn sometimes, but unlike Helga, he does ask for help when he needs to. Yet, he is also concerned about the safety of his friends.**


	10. Chapter 10 - The Lone Wolf

**The next day...**

First period after lunch had just ended and Rodrigo calmly walked towards his locker to put his stuff away. He will not need them for this upcoming fight. Once everything was inside his locker, he closed it, then started walking toward the exit while everyone else went for their fourth and final class of the day. He quickly messaged Eugene to make sure that everything was in place. Then, he put his cell in his pocket and continued walking.

Although never really the type to skip class, Rodrigo felt today's circumstances went beyond him attending a single class. He didn't even bother informing his teacher of his absence. His last class was somewhat big and he hoped his teacher would not notice.

Rodrigo would be lying to himself if he felt he wasn't nervous. He had every reason to be. This was not going to an ordinary fight, nor was it about something petty. No, this was a fight for the very soul of the entire school, heck of an entire generation and the decision of what direction people would like to see their school head to. The stakes could not have been higher. And as usual, he had to go about it alone, feeling that he was now carrying the moral weight of an entire generation. No pressure right?

As he stepped outside, the sun was blazing brightly. It was a beautiful spring afternoon. There were almost no clouds in the sky. The birds were chirping and Rodrigo could tell that everything felt…alive today.

_Good day for the crows, I suppose_. He thought to himself morbidly.

He continued walking until he stepped out of school property and onto neutral ground. He stopped to ponder a bit. He was no longer protected by the system. He was on his own now. After inhaling a deep breath, he continued walking until he entered into the park.

He had texted Helga again earlier today, hoping to talk to her before his upcoming fight. He thought at the very least she would have attempted to either intervene again or at least wish him good luck, but again to his disappointment, he was met only with silence. He had not seen her for the past two days, not even during their history class. Getting a bit anxious by her silence, he then realized just how used he got to talking to her. It was no longer something that he wanted to do; it became more of a necessity really. He...needed to talk to her, especially now. It had become a big part of his life and he had been feeling...empty during these last two days by her avoidance. As he continued walking, he thought if he should just call her and hope she would answer, but then relented and decided to just forget about it and focus on the task at hand. He was close to his destination anyways.

Usually no one goes to the park during this time, other than a few joggers, so it was eerily quiet. As he continued walking, Rodrigo saw a huge crowd already gathered by the great oak tree. As he approached the crowd, he realized that there were a lot more people than he originally thought would be there. Although he wasn't able to count them all, he estimated that must have been at least a hundred, if not more.

_How did so many students managed to skip fourth period without alerting the school?_ He wondered.

Once he arrived, the crowd fell silent and started to stare at him. Rodrigo then realized that all of them must be Caesar's troops. He could tell; they were all standing behind him, with Caesar himself being in the middle front. When he saw Rodrigo, he became disappointed when he saw only him.

_Damn it!_ He thought angrily._ Where are the others?! I thought for sure they would have come to help him!_

Despite his frustration, he reframed from showing it to Rodrigo or anyone else. But he was suspicious of this. It was very unusual for his friends to have allowed him to come here on his own. He was practically at his mercy! Not liking this, he called on someone and whispered to him to scout the entire park and try to see if any of Rodrigo friends were here, hiding and attempting to surprise them. The student then left the crowd and headed to look for them.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo simply walked toward the big oak tree, put his fedora hat there, before making his way to the fighting area.

"Finally you showed up." Caesar said to him with an evil smirk. "I was beginning to think I had to scout that entire school to find you."

"Awww, sorry to have kept you waiting, dear." Rodrigo sarcastically and flirteously responded back. "I promise I'll make it up to you, muah" as he blew an air kiss at him.

Caesar was not amused and simply growled at him.

"You coming here alone; ill-advised. Brave, but stupid." He continued.

"I prefer to work alone." Rodrigo responded, not planning on giving him anymore information about his true intentions.

"How was your little rendezvous with Gino?" Caesar suddenly asked, prompting Rodrigo to look straight at him with a surprised look on his face.

"Oh, don't think that I don't know that you were trying to gather information about me." He continued. "The only reason why I didn't stop you was because I knew that whatever information Gino was going to give you would have been of no value to you."

Rodrigo then just gave him a smirk.

"I wouldn't say the trip to see him was a total loss. Sometimes not knowing things about a person is still knowing something about him."

_I hope he hasn't figured out our headquarters._ Rodrigo thought worryingly. _We have been really careful in making sure no one was following us._

Caesar for his part said nothing and just stared at him.

"You know, you don't belong here." Caesar said to him.

"Neither do you." Rodrigo countered.

"True." He agreed. "But then again, was this land ever anyone's?"

"Perhaps not." Rodrigo commented. "Which is all the more reason why no one should be expelling anyone from it. It was never anyone's to claim."

"Never anyone's to claim, except those who are strong enough to do so." Caesar countered. "Especially if we were the ones that built this country with our blood and sweat. It's a bit insulting if others simply come here and suck the life out of everything that we've built and enjoy the fruit of other people's labour."

"You obviously have either been living under a rock or are just a retard if you haven't seen how hard life is for those who recently come here." Rodrigo said to him. "But I know you're not an idiot, and your fully aware of how much other people have contributed to this country. Other non-whites have come here and made their contributions, despite been discriminated and living as second class citizens. We still contributed. I'd say for those that did that, we should have more say on how to run this country. I know you see that and that's why you are afraid. You don't want to give up power. You don't want to change."

"You're right." Caesar responded. "I don't want to change because I see no reason to. I see no reason why I have to change while you, a foreigner, don't."

"It takes a foreigner to know a foreigner." Rodrigo remarked with a smirk. "So instead of treating this place like it's your own personal property, why not allow us to demonstrate just what we can 'bring to the table', so to speak?"

"The only thing that you have brought into this country is chaos and disorder. Your degenerate mentality that different cultures can not only live side by side, but fuse together has only created confusion and an inferior mentality, with no grounds for competition, or determination to show everyone who is really superior."

"It's only chaos and disorder if you think it is." Rodrigo countered. "You just don't see the 'other side' of how it can benefit you and everyone else. But yes, in order to do that, you'd have to give up something; your identity, your sense of self and embrace a new identity, a new sense of self."

"I like myself just the way I am and I see no reason to change that." Caesar countered back. "But enough of this. I'm here to destroy any lasting remnants of Arnold's legacy and what it stands for."

"It's a pity that Arnold is not here." He continued. "I would have preferred to have battled him, but I guess I'll have to settle for table scraps." He said with a smirk.

"I promise you that I'll make you forget about that football." Rodrigo retorted back. "I'm more of a challenge to you than he will ever be."

"Hmph, we'll see about that." Caesar said before he started walking toward Rodrigo, signaling the start of the fight. It was now on!

Both teens at first simply danced around a bit, while everyone else just watched by the sidelines. Roger and El were there, just in front of the crowd, but away from Rodrigo and Caesar. Just like Caesar, the duo was also taken aback that Rodrigo came here on his own and were suspicious about it. They had told their supporters to be on guard and even sent a few of them to establish a picket line around the main body, ready to inform them of any incoming opposition.

Finally, after about a minute into the fight, Caesar ran up to Rodrigo and attempted to land a punch. At just the last second, he dodged it and moved away. Caesar again attempted another swing, only to miss a second time. When Caesar attempted to hit him a third time, Rodrigo dodged it, but then used his weight against him and pushed him away, causing him to fall.

"Too slow." Rodrigo remarked with a smirk.

Caesar remained unfazed and said to him with a smile, "That was just a warm up."

Then at break neck speed, Caesar then threw fourth punch, this time, hitting its mark. His fist slammed right on Rodrigo's left side of his face, immediately sending pain signals onto his brain for registration, as well as almost knocking him down on the floor. Luckily, he barely managed to get himself right back up again.

The punch was not intentional. Caesar leaped onto Rodrigo so fast that the Latino kid had no time to react. He had hoped to be able to dodge his punches for a quite a long while before eventually allowing him to take a jab at him.

_F***! That hurt!_ Rodrigo cried in thought, as he groaned in pain. _I didn't even see it coming! I need to be more careful if I wish to make it all the way through; otherwise he'll knock me out in less than a minute._

Just then Caesar again launched himself against Rodrigo, with him only barely to dodge it. For quite a while, Caesar attempted to take another jab at him, with Rodrigo either being able to dodge or ended up being on the receiving end again.

Pretty soon, it started coming clear to Caesar that Rodrigo was not really fighting back. Actually, he wasn't fighting him at all, other than just dodging this punches.

_What is this wetback kid trying to do?_ Caesar thought. _He's probably trying to tire me out. Yeah, that's what he is doing. _

Just then, Caesar went down fast, only to use his leg to trip Rodrigo down. Just as he fell, Caesar immediately got up and kicked him right in his ribs, although his arm managed to absorb most of the shock, but it was enough to send Rodrigo rolling around the grass before he immediately got up.

"I know what you're trying to do." Caesar said to him. "You're trying to tire me out, so then you can attack me when I'm all worn out."

"Ahh shucks, you discovered my plan." Rodrigo jokingly complained. "How did you guess? I'm surprised you have a brain under all that muscle."

"These muscles will send you to an early grave." Caesar threatened. And with that, he immediately ran toward Rodrigo and attempted to hit him.

As time went on, Caesar was able to land more punches than before, with Rodrigo trying to ensure that the punches and kicks bruised him, but did not cause him to be either knocked out or suffer any serious injuries.

A few times he ended up on the ground, with him extending his arm and palm, indicating to Caesar to 'wait' as he caught his breath. Whenever he could, he also slide back, trying to 'get away' from Caesar as he walked towards him. With the way he was behaving, it's as if Rodrigo was scared and he was trying to prevent his attacker from continuing to attack him.

Caesar took notice of his strange behavior and it was confusing him.

_What the hell is he doing? Why is he looking like he is scared and already defeated, but he hasn't said anything back?_ Caesar said to himself confusingly.

"Get up!" Caesar yelled at him angrily. 'Fight me!"

Rodrigo got up, but instead of fighting him, once he adjusted his clothes a bit, he merely 'turned the other cheek' at him.

Angered by this non-violent display, Caesar angrily punched him on the cheek, sending Rodrigo back down again. Again, Rodrigo merely held his arm in front of his face, an indicating to Caesar and everyone that Rodrigo had no desire to fight and was trying to deter Caesar from attaching him again.

"You coward!" Caesar yelled at him. "You're no fighter! You're just a queer!"

"Well, it takes one to know one." Rodrigo said rather calmly and quietly to him. "Is that why you allied with Roger and El? To hide your sexual orientation?"

Fuming by what he just said, Caesar then went into a beating frenzy and started hitting Rodrigo severely. Rodrigo tried desperately protect himself and even a few times pushed Caesar so he can get away. But ultimately, Caesar quickly caught up with him and continued beating him.

After a little more than twenty minutes since the fight started, Rodrigo was bloodied and bruised. Blooding was dripping down from his mouth and in some parts in his face. He was starting to develop bruises on his arms, torso, face and legs. Yet despite the beating, he remained standing, with very little indication that he was about to pass out.

After a few more minutes of enduring Caesar's attacks, finally, thinking this was enough, Rodrigo immediately launched himself against Caesar, pushed him hard and used his leg to cause him to trip over and fall down, allowing Rodrigo to move away from him.

Just as Caesar as getting up, Rodrigo yelled, "did you get all of that?!"

This caused everyone else to look at him confusingly, with some looking around to see if anyone was approaching, but found no one.

Caesar too looked around to see who just 'supposedly' arrived for him to say that.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" He asked him irritatingly, after seeing that no one was here.

Rodrigo said nothing, but only gave him a smirk.

Just then, laughter could be heard. It was somewhat faint at first, but slowly, it picked up in volume.

"Hahahahaha!"

After a little while, it became clear that the laughter was maniacal in nature.

"Woohooo!" The voice called out, prompting everyone to look at the direction where the voice supposedly came from, but again no one was there.

"Over here!" the voice called out again, this time, in the other direction.

"Or maybe...over...here!" the voice called out again in another direction, frustrating Caesar and everyone.

"Grrrr, show yourself!" Caesar called out in anger.

"Or maybe nowhere; for I am...EVERWHERE! HAHAHAHHAHAHA!" The voice yelled again, this time being much louder than previously.

Just then, a branch or two from the great Oak tree shook, with a few leaves falling down, prompting everyone to look up. It was then that a figure emerged from the leaves and branches. Although still not being able to see the figure's face, it soon moved a bit forward, revealing itself fully before Caesar and everyone else.

"Hiya!" The figure said as it blew kissing to everyone.

The person was skinny, somewhat tall, wore thick glasses. His hair was rather short, but nothing unusual. He wore jeans with a stripped long-sleeved shirt.

While everyone was trying to see if they or anyone else recognized this person, Caesar knew full well who this person was and gave him a scowling face.

"YOU!" Caesar yelled. "You twisted little freak!"

"In the flash!" Yelled Curly as he took a bow before his 'audience'. "Ya missed me?"

"What the hell are doing here?!" Caesar snarled at him.

"He is here to record our fight." Rodrigo declared.

"What?" Said Caesar confusingly.

"I had asked Curly to secretly plant video cameras and old cell phones all over this side of the park in order to record our entire fight." Rodrigo explained. "With his help, we were able to record these various footages and edit it into a single coherent video that will make it look like you were the aggressor."

"Oh how sweet the fruits of justice tastes like!" Curly interjected. "I wonder how good, or in your case C-section, how 'bad' it will make you look when we also attach the video that shows what you and your little two boyfriends over there said at the music room yesterday, after your little nazi orgy session. Hahahahaha!"

"What?!" Caesar, Roger and El exclaimed with a look of horror on their faces.

"Yup. We figured out where your next meeting was and planted a phone there to record what was said at that meeting and also what you three stooges said after." Said Rodrigo.

"I must admit C-section, what you said you will do after your 'victory' is pretty crazy, even for me, hehehehehe."

"Stop calling me that!" Caesar yelled at him angrily.

"What the hell do you mean by 'we'?!" Roger asked with a raised voice.

"It is the Mitigators Part II baby, HAHAHAHAHA!" Exclaimed Curly as he laughed maniacally.

"What the hell is a mitigator?" El asked, but before Rodrigo could explain, Caesar interjected.

"You traitorous twist little freak! You were Ludwig's apprentice, why would side you with the Mitigators?!"

"Alas, 'tis true!" Curly lamented dramatically. "I was once on Ludwig's side, swayed like everyone else by his rhetoric, his charm, his oversized physique and mesmerized by the desire for power, respect and order that he promised to deliver! Like a typical herd animal, I was dragged away by the sweet melodic tune for recognition and existence!"

"Although I was initially a loyal servant of his cause, I slowly started feeling a sense of guilt, a sense of empathy for my younger fellow human hamsters, and began questioning my loyalty." Curly continued with his performance. "But," he said as his voice now became serious, if not angry, "it was only when he threw me inside a trashcan, when I smelled the reality of used diapers, rotten burgers and a half eaten banana that I realized how much of a fool I was to have ever followed him! Oh the humiliation, the shame of it all! You call me a traitor, C-section? It was Ludwig who is the real traitor! He is a traitor of humanity and of his own ideology. When Wolfgang came, he couldn't even continue with his own work. No, he was now destitute..."

"Get to the point, you freak!" Caesar annoyingly yelled at him.

"Right, right. But alas, I have only myself to blame! I have been in mourning for these past five years, mourning the loss of my morality, my ethics, my code of conduct if you will. For five years I have been waiting behind the scenes, waiting for a chance to redeem myself, to regain my lost honour! And now I have that chance; under the weight of your corpses, I now have the chance for redemption, a chance to right the wrongs committed on Gerald's field all those years ago, a chance to finally gain whatever seeks to find, but few succeed; self-respect!" he concluded.

_Wow! His dramatic speech was almost as good as Helga's._ Rodrigo thought. _Better not tell her that though, hahahaha._

While everyone merely looked at his weird kid with confusion and/or annoyance, Rodrigo simply clapped away.

"Bravo ami, bravo!" He said to Curly.

"What the hell are you going to do with that footage?" El asked Rodrigo.

Rodrigo for a while, said nothing as he hesitated.

_Should I tell them?_ He thought._ Maybe not. But…what could go wrong? We have them right where we want them. There is nothing stopping us from exposing them to the world._

"Answer me!" El exclaimed angrily at them.

Finally, letting his ego and his desire for justice getting the better of him, he relented.

"This footage are proof that you three were the masterminds behind the hateful rumors and slanders circulating around the school. Plus it also spells out what you stooges are planning on doing to a good portion of your followers once you 'win'. We're going to be downloading those footages onto every social media website and expose you idiots for what you really are!" He explained with an almost evil grin.

The look on Roger's, El's and Caesar's faces was delightful, if not priceless, for Rodrigo. In these faces were a mixture of shock, abject horror and anger all rolled up into one. Roger and El were especially completely frozen in fear, knowing that their livelihoods were just inches away of being completely destroyed. Even with the protest rally, they had never intended on exposing themselves like this. Even if they were caught, they would be perceived themselves to be mere 'foot soldiers' and not leaders of the movement. But now Rodrigo had proof of their involvement and there was nothing stopping him from exposing them.

While Rodrigo was 'fighting' Caesar, Curly was busy up in the tree, coordinating all the various phones and cameras throughout the park with one phone. Although his interest laid in chemistry and physics, he also had a neck for information technology and cell and smartphone devices, a fact that he had told Rodrigo months prior. As Rodrigo continued to fight, Curly ensured that all cameras and phones were operational and recording. While he was making his speech to everyone, he was waiting for Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Eugene and Park to send him a link with the video, ready for it to be uploaded onto all social media website through various accounts.

"Is it ready?" Rodrigo asked.

_Pfft! Who needs Arnold?_ The Latino kid thought to himself triumphantly.

"Oh ya baby. It's ready!" Curly confirmed with a huge smile on his face.

He then threw to Rodrigo that same cell phone that is suppose to download the videos onto all social media networks. However, his aim was not in conjunction with his expertise in IT. No sooner had he thrown it when Caesar immediately run up and grabbed it, not even giving enough time for Rodrigo to react.

"Got it! Thanks little freak! Haha!" He called out to Curly with an evil smile.

"Oops." Was all Curly said as his smile completely disappeared.

"You've got to be f****** kidding me?!" Rodrigo exclaimed in utter shock.

* * *

**I would like to thank Cre8ivelybankbrupt for giving me some ideas on this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	11. Chapter 11 - A Battle of Ideals

**Hi everyone. So for the next two chapters, I have placed some songs during each scene in order to add to the drama and suspense. If you are able to, try to listen to the music while reading it.**

* * *

Back at the Mitigators headquarters, Lorenzo, Park, Peapod Kid and Eugene were busy editing the videos that the various cameras were instantly recording. Rhonda, Sheena and Nadine were also there, accessing all of their accounts on every social media websites that they were active in and downloading a program that Curly had sent them in order to connect their accounts with the video that he will be sending them soon.

While the boys were too busy editing the video to actually watch the fight, Rhonda, Nadine and Sheena looked with both awe and shock as they saw Rodrigo getting beaten up.

"Oh dear, poor Rodrigo." Sheena said worryingly. "I hope he'll be alright."

"Me too." Said Nadine. "This is hard to watch."

Rhonda however, was less sympathetic.

"Ugh, I don't like seeing Rodrigo get beat up like this, but he asked for it." She remarked. "I mean, who does he think he is? He's only been in our group for not even a year and already he is barking orders and even having the nerve to not include the rest of us. Ugh! I'm going to have a talk with them when all of this is over."

"He kind of reminds you for someone, doesn't he?" Nadine rhetorically asked with a smirk.

Rhonda said nothing and merely looked away, although knowing full well who Nadine was referring to.

By the time Rodrigo called out to Curly, the four male teens had finished editing the various footages, as well as the video that Jason had recorded on his phone into an intelligible video and sent it to Curly's phone so he can download it onto the program. He then sent to the three Mitigator female teens the link for them to download and connect it to their various social media accounts, which they did.

"Done. Now what?" Rhonda asked.

"Now either Curly or Rodrigo need to click on the button of that cell phone in order to download it onto the internet.

Just then, Lorenzo watched with horror as Curly inadvertently threw the phone for Caesar to catch it. He now feared the worst as he took a big gulp.

"Uh oh, Code Red!" Yelled Lorenzo. "Caesar has the phone now. Operation Say Cheese has failed."

"What?!" Exclaimed Nadine. "How?!"

"Curly didn't throw the phone properly to Rodrigo and Caesar managed to catch it." Lorenzo explained.

"Oh this is just terrible, just terrible!" Lamented Peapod Kid. "Eugene, I would strongly recommend we proceed with Plan B."

"Ya, you are right Peapod Kid." Eugene confirmed. "Rhonda, is he here yet?" Eugene asked.

Rhonda looked at her phone impatiently as she waited for a text confirmation.

"Yes! He's here!" She confirmed excitedly. "He's waiting for us!"

"Then we need to hurry!" Park added, just as they were packing everything up when suddenly,

***BANG**BANG***

A loud bang was heard at the entrance.

"Uh oh" Said Eugene nervously. "I think we got discovered...again!"

"Come on! Push! They are definitely in there!" A muffled voice could be heard from behind the door"

"Oh no! This is terrible!" Rhonda lamented. "What are we going to do? Is there another way out?"

***BANG**BANG***

"We're almost through! Keeping hitting it!" The muffled voice said again.

"Uh, Eugene?" Nadine added with growing fear. "Please tell us that there is another way out."

Eugene looked around hastily, trying to figure out a way to get of there and initiate Plan B.

**Back at the Park...**

**(Play Two Steps of Hell – To Glory)**

Rodrigo looked on in complete shock and anger by the turn of events. Although he was trying not to show it, he was fuming on the inside! Now, a few feeling was also gripping him; fear. Since Caesar now had the phone, Rodrigo was not only at a strategic disadvantage, but he was now completely at the mercy of Caesar and his entire horde! Worse, Rodrigo had no backup plan. He tried to think of a way to get himself out of this, but he realized that he now had no choice but to fight Caesar, the type of fight that he wanted and Rodrigo knew he could not win.

_What choice do I have now?!_ He thought with extreme frustration. _I need to get that phone in order to end all of this!_

Although he didn't say anything to Curly, he looked at him with a seriously deadly scowling face for not properly throwing to him. Curly in turn merely snickered nervously and shrugged his shoulders with a nervous smile, knowing full well the serious error that he just committed.

Caesar on the other hand, felt relaxed as he knew he now had the advantage. He even gave Rodrigo a smirk. Roger and El also felt relaxed, knowing that they were save…for the time being.

"Thanks for the phone, freak!" He called out to Curly.

Just then, a teen came up to Caesar and whispered something to him. Once the teen finished, he ran back to his position. Caesar then gave Rodrigo a mischievous smile.

"Oh and as for your little hideout, we found it." He said with a delighted smile on his face. "I sent some of my people find it and to, 'neutralize' your little friends. So whatever plan you thought you had, just went out the window. "

Rodrigo eyes went wide and his jaw dropped upon hearing the news, but could do nothing but just stare in complete disbelief, shock and anger. His worst fears have come to light; what he dreaded most. He had put his friends in jeopardy. Now things were taking a serious downturn and he felt that any means of escape and success was quickly falling apart. Although he wasn't sure, his only option now was to get that phone and hope that it was still useful.

"If anything happens to them," Rodrigo snarled at him angrily, "I swear to you Caesar, I'm going to rip you into little pieces!"

"Oh I doubt that." Caesar responded with a chuckle.

Caesar then attempted to unlock the phone and try to dismantle the program. However, no sooner had he tried in this attempt when he felt a serious pain in his stomach. It was so painful that he had to crutch downwards.

He groaned in pain, but he had no time to rest. He looked up and saw Rodrigo standing right in front of him, about to give him another punch, this time to his face. While Caesar wasn't looking, Rodrigo had launched himself in a surprise attack, in the hopes of getting the phone before he unlocked it. No such luck. Despite the pain, Caesar distanced the phone from Rodrigo and tried to counter attack. Rodrigo in turn tried to punch him a few times, with minimal amount of success. Then, seeing as how Caesar was regaining his composure, he distanced himself from him before he had any time to grab him.

"You'll…pay…for that!" Caesar bellowed at him under the pain.

_I totally agree with you on that. _ Rodrigo thought to himself before again running up to him and started attacking him.

Caesar was taken aback by his attack. Despite being bruised and bloodied, Rodrigo attacked him with a fury! He had neither time, nor any leeway to counterattack and had to only block his punches and kicks. Whatever opportunity he did have, Rodrigo would simply dodge it, only for him to then immediately counter attack, hitting Caesar either on his face, stomach, ribcage or back. Throughout the entire time Rodrigo tried desperately to grab the phone from him, only for Caesar to move his hand away from Rodrigo's grasp at just the last second.

Finally, Caesar saw an opportunity and went straight for it. He managed to punch Rodrigo right on his face, causing him to roll back, away from him.

Angered by his sudden attacks, Caesar instantly saw a trashcan close by.

"Someone, get me that trashcan!" he yelled.

A student then ran up to it, grabbed it, and then threw it to Caesar.

"Really? You're gonna try and throw me inside a trashcan? How nostalgic of you." Rodrigo remarked.

"You want the phone? Come and get it!" He taunted him.

Although knowing that if he caught him, he would throw him inside the trashcan, Rodrigo had no options. He instantly ran up again and attempted to take a swing at him, only for Caesar to dodge it and hit his back with his elbow. Caesar then tried to grab him, but Rodrigo instantly grabbed the trashcan lid and hit him with it, causing Caesar to take a few steps back, as he groaned in pain and grabbed his nose.

Before Rodrigo tried another attempt in getting the phone, Caesar grabbed the trashcan and attempted to hit Rodrigo with it. Using the lid as a shield, Rodrigo protected himself from every blow. Whenever he could, he quickly launched himself against Caesar and hit his face or stomach, only to instantly slide back behind the lid for protection. Again Caesar tried to hit him with the can, but to avail. As time went on for a while, Caesar began to tire from the constant attempts. Rodrigo could tell that the blows were slowing down and it was only a matter of time before he either stopped or slowed down enough for him to attack again. Caesar was starting to pant and he was sweating, but nevertheless continued with his blow. As soon as he saw it, Rodrigo again jumped up and head-butted Caesar right in his face, causing him to let the trashcan go. Again Rodrigo attempted to grab the phone, which he just barely managed to do. However Caesar then grabbed Rodrigo's other hand and the two struggled with each other, trying to throw the other off balance.

As they continued struggling with each other, both teens looked at each other with ferocious determination and anger in their eyes. Nothing could be higher than what both teens were fighting for. It was not only for the soul of the school, as much as trying to completely change a whole way of life. Both sides knew that whoever wins here, gains control of the school and whoever controls that, gain enormous power for society. Granted, it would be only within a portion of a city, but both knew that was only the start. It will eventually spread. For Rodrigo, it was more important for him to win; people's lives were at stake!

As he continued to struggle with Caesar, Rodrigo knew that this position was only temporary, since Caesar was taller and stronger than him. He just needed to create the illusion that Caesar was gaining the upper hand, which Caesar was. Rodrigo slowly, under the weight of Caesar's, was forced to kneel down to the ground as Caesar stretched himself above him. Seeing as how he was winning, Caesar continued to pressure him, hoping to overwhelm him.

Then, at just the right moment, Rodrigo then quickly fell down on the floor onto his back, and using Caesar's weight, used his legs to launched him back, throwing him onto the floor and using that momentum for Rodrigo to pull himself up and land right on top of Caesar.

Finally having right he wanted him, Rodrigo began to viciously attack him. Caesar in turned tried to counter attack with his legs, but Rodrigo either ignored them as it hit his back hard or blocked them with his elbows. Nevertheless, he continued to attack, knowing that Caesar still exhausted, he eventually he will get the phone. Indeed, several times he tried to get it, only to just barely miss it, but with each attempt, getting closer and closer.

_Come on, come on! I almost have it! Just a few more blows and I can end this right now! _He thought.

Just then, he saw an opening and feeling relieved that this will be ending soon, he took a reach for it. His quickly inched closer to the phone and Rodrigo felt a burden finally being lifted. Despite this 'little' setup back, he was close to coming out on top after all; he will come out wining!

_**(Stop playing Two Steps from Hell - To Glory)**_

Just then, he felt a serious pain on his stomach. No worse, the pain was so bad that it knocked him right off Caesar, forcing him to land on the ground. He then looked up and saw two new people who had joined the fight; Roger and El.

Despite the serious pain, Rodrigo gave himself some distance from them. This is what he feared; that Caesar's supporters might intervene and help him. He was hoping that was not going to be the case and thought he could quickly grab the phone before anyone else came to Caesar's aid. Now things have gotten from bad to worse.

"S***!" Rodrigo groaned as he panted heavily.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Caesar yelled at them.

"You needed help." Roger said to him. "We are as much invested in this thing as you are."

"And we're not going to risk in this wetback kid getting that phone." El added. "Besides, I've got a score to settle with him."

Rodrigo was by now tired and even more injured than previously. Yet, he had no intention of stopping.

Despite being irritated at their intervention, Caesar nonetheless took the opportunity to again try and unlock the phone by randomly seeing if he can figure out the password.

When Rodrigo saw what Caesar was doing, he attempted to figure out a strategy, but just then, both Roger and El and ran up to him and tried to attack him.

Despite being outnumbered, Rodrigo managed to dodge two attempts by them to hit him. He then grabbed Roger by his hair and pulled his head down and hit his face with his knee, hard. El managed to punch him in the face after that, but Rodrigo quickly regained his composure and when El tried to punch him again, he grabbed his arm, twisted towards his back, then with his knee, struck his stomach hard. He then landed a punch on his face.

While El was temporarily on the ground, Rodrigo attacked Roger again and landed a few serious punches to his face before he then ran up to Caesar. Caesar tried to punch him again, but Rodrigo simply grabbed his hand, but then Caesar used his other hand to punch Rodrigo on his torso several times. Despite the pain, he evaded in having Caesar hit his stomach. Then, he jumped up and head butt Caesar on his face, which he used to try and get the phone again, only to miss it again.

As soon as Caesar hit the ground, Roger and El ran up again towards Rodrigo, forcing the Latino kid to divert his attention to them again.

Again, Rodrigo fought viciously against them, giving them a few bruises on the face and bloodied noses. However, being already exhausted and injured, he was eventually overwhelmed by them, who grabbed both his arms and stretched them.

Caesar then got up and walked towards the now neutralized Rodrigo, who was by this time breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"I'm going to enjoy this." He said with a sadistic smile.

"Not as much as I enjoyed being with your mom last night." Rodrigo countered back. "She sucked." He continued with a smirk on his face.

Angered by his obscene comment, Caesar began to viciously attack him. He started throwing punches at Rodrigo on his face, torso, stomach and legs and even his kidneys. Being held by both Roger and El, Rodrigo was helpless against his attacks and could do nothing but groan in pain as Caesar severely beat him. Roger and El too took the opportunity to punch Rodrigo a few times while still grabbing onto his arms.

The beatings were hard and they went on for several grueling, agonizing minutes, with Caesar showing no sign of stopping. Finally, not wanting to kill him, Caesar finally stopped, letting a severely bloodied Rodrigo to have some rest.

Rodrigo's face was not badly bruised and bloodied. One of his eyes was somewhat swelling, his mouth was dripping blood and he had cuts on his face, while he had bruises on his entire body and in severe pain. Despite the punches and kicks that his torso received, he was lucky that his none of his ribs were broken. At one time, he ended up throwing up due to the amount of punches he received on his stomach.

"Well...there goes my lunch." He joked, before he all of the sudden, pulled one of his arms hard away from Roger's grasp, and used it to punch El right in the way, forcing him to let go. Caesar tried to grab him, but Rodrigo gave him an upper cut right in the groin. He did the same to Roger and El. Rodrigo in turn gave all three teens their own beatings to the face, chest and stomach in retaliation. When it seemed that they were coming to, Rodrigo again hit all three teens on the groin, gave them one or two more punches before distancing himself away from them.

By this stage, the rest of the trio's supporters were not very pleased with this. Some were disappointed that it is taking three white guys to overwhelm one Latino, while others were uncomfortable at the amount of violence that was taking place. Others were starting to question their 'leaders' strength.

When Rodrigo looked around, he saw with despair that more people were coming, swelling Caesar's ranks even more.

_I can't believe it! More people are coming to join him. _He thought bitterly and disappointedly. _Fourth period is done, which means that class must have ended already._

Rodrigo just stood here, trying desperately to come up with a plan to get that phone and end this. He quickly scanned the battleground, trying to see if he can somehow outflank them, but realized to his fury, that it was he that was now outflanked. Although not the first time that he was in a precarious situation, this is one that he was not able to get out of and as a result, had been growing increasingly nervous with every failed attempt to get that phone. Now, that nervousness had been replaced with fear, as he now recognized just how truly alone and isolated he was; him facing an entire army of people who no doubt want to tear him into pieces.

Throughout the entire time he was fighting Caesar, he did not see anyone he knew. He again quickly scanned around, trying to see any familiar faces who may have come to the park to support him. But alas, he found no one, not even his friends. Even Curly seemed to have disappeared, no longer seen on the great oak tree. It seems that he had been left to his fate.

For the first time, he questioned his decision to go at this alone and not include his friends. No rather, he was regretting it.

**(Play Two steps from Hell - Heart of Courage; the longer version)**

_I should have included everyone! I shouldn't have excluded them! They wanted to help!_ He lamented in thought and in fear. _Helga was right; I let my pride blind my judgment and I'm now paying for it. I was so stupid! I'm...now on my own..._

Also for the first time, he was now afraid for his life and was starting to think that...he would not make out of this alive. Feeling scared, his eyes started swelling up with tears, but Rodrigo refused to let them fall down and just tried to focus on trying get out of this mess, but to no avail. Now worse, his thoughts began to focus on his family, his friends and...Helga. Even his brain was now starting to give up. He wanted to run away. Perhaps he should. There was no one blocking his escape route, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to make a stand here. If he didn't, Caesar would rendezvous with his allies and it would be all over. Even if he survived, he would lose.

Just then, a Monarch butterfly flew right in front of him, graciously flapping its wings, no doubt looking for nectar to consume for its eventual migratory flight south. Rodrigo just stared at the butterfly's peaceful and serene flight, with every flap of its wing transferring its majestic existence onto him, becoming mesmerized. Here was this brave and noble creature, flying through life without a care in the world, and yet, demonstrating to everyone around it, through its colourful pattern, its determination to exist in this life and to carry on the struggle by achieving its goal to fly south and breed for the new generation, by whatever means necessary. Its life was not for itself, but for all future Monarchs that will come after it, for it seemed to know that all past Monarchs did the same for it, and so it must now continue on with that tradition, passing on its life for its children, and so on and so on. It strives to live so that others can also live.

The Monarch's determination to fly right past the battleground and continue on its quest, regardless of the danger, filled Rodrigo with a sense new hope. Suddenly, his fear and anxiety for his safety was quickly replaced with a strong sense of calmness and serene peace. Both body and mind pushed away that amount of stress that he was initially feeling. His muscles relaxed, his heart beat returned to its normal pumping rate, his mind became blank, but focused.

Rodrigo then thought about the philosophy of Baruch de Spinoza and Epicurus. Having almost memorized their works by memory, his mind unconsciously combined Spinoza's philosophy on determinism, and embracing it with a life of tranquility and calmness via Epicurus' work. His conclusion came as follows: We may not be able choose where we land, but we can choose on how to meet it; either with a sense of anger, despair and hopelessness, or with determination, hope, calmness for an eventual happiness. That is still our choice.

Soon, his thoughts moved toward wondering why he was here. Was he doing this for himself, to achieve some sort of personal glory? It must be. Why else would he have stupidly excluded everyone else, leaving himself completely exposed like this.

_It never should have been about me!_ He angrily thought to himself. _It was never about me! It is about those who have no voice, those who could not stand up for themselves. Those who had been beaten, excluded, marginalized, those that felt powerless, with nothing to live for while other do at their expense! It was never about my own personal satisfaction, but for their sake, their happiness too! It is about getting everyone to live side by side as equals, without fear of repression, or hate, or reprisals, to allow them to be who they are proudly! It is about acceptance and understanding each other!_

Rodrigo then just smiled at that thought, of fighting for something higher than himself. That in itself gave him personal satisfaction.

_What Nobler cause is there but to fight for others, to fight for that very idea; to allow everyone to live as they need to live? What higher cause is there to die for?_

Rodrigo then looked at the trio and smiled at them.

_I guess this must be my Thermopylae_. He thought. _So be it._

Then, he took out his comb, which by some miracle, was still in his pocket and started gently combing his hair. He did nothing else other than to continue combing his chair and adjust his clothes, which were now dirty and a bit torn.

This completely confused the trio as they looked on at his strange behavior.

"What the hell is he doing?" El asked.

"He's preparing for death!" A student from behind yelled out, prompting the trio to look behind them.

"In ancient Sparta, whenever soldiers prepared for battle, they would clean themselves up beforehand." The teen explained. "They would prepare themselves for death that awaited them on the battlefield. That Latino is preparing to fight to the death."

The trio then looked back towards the front, completely stunned by this revelation. Despite being severely beaten and bruised, Rodrigo was still determined to see this through.

Some of the Caesar's supporters began to admire Rodrigo's resolve. Indeed, this was one kid that refused to give up on his ideals.

"That kid's got the heat of courage." Said one teen with a genuine admirable smile.

**(Stop playing Two steps from Hell - Heart of Courage; the longer version)**

Additionally, some of the other teens, including Roger and El, were starting to become a bit nervous. While they were prepared to fight, they had not counted on the possibility that they might have to take human life. That was never their goal. Now it looked like a real possibility.

Caesar however, remained unfazed by this. He too was willing to go through extreme lengths for his ideals.

"Let's finish this." Caesar said to both teens and started walking towards Rodrigo.

Despite their reservations, both Roger and El also started walking beside Caesar, with Rodrigo preparing himself for the final battle.

"Any last words, wetback?" Caesar asked with a grin.

Rodrigo, with a fierce and determined look simply cried out, "¡Hasta la victoria, siempre!" (Always until victory!) and prepared for his final clash.

Suddenly, a loud trumpet blew from behind Rodrigo, prompting the trio to stop dead in their tracks and looked beyond Rodrigo as they saw something on the horizon. Rodrigo also looked behind him.

By now, the sun was started to set a bit, and although it was nowhere near in touching the horizon, it was at a sufficient angle that it blocked the visions of the trio and Rodrigo.

However, Rodrigo then saw figures emerging. At first it was only a few, but then more and more figures emerged. Soon, it was a whole group of people coming towards the fighting area.

"Good. Reinforcements" Caesar commented with a smile.

Hearing on what his adversary said, Rodrigo looked on with distraught and a scowling face over the horizon and helplessly looked on at the increasingly impossible task he now had to endure.

"You've got to be kidding me?!" Rodrigo angrily exclaimed.

* * *

**Just a few responses to some reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: Thanks! Ya, Rodrigo is not having the best of luck right now. Perhaps that back luck is rubbing off from Helga lol. And the dramatic scene is not yet over! More is yet to come!**


	12. Chapter 12 - Mitigators, Unite!

**You guys are lucky. I was too excited to wait until next week, so I decided to post this chapter today, lol.**

**UPDATE: Hey everyone! So I realized that I published this chapter a bit prematurely. Hence, I have made a slight update, especially where Helga makes another passionate speech. Everything else in this chapters stays the same. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

**(Play The Avengers Suite (Theme))**

The emerging figures continued walking towards the battlefield, slowly revealing themselves and their numbers. No one knew who they were. Were they friends or foes? At first, it only seemed like a mere ten people were coming towards them. But soon, as others began to appear, that number soon swelled to twenty, then thirty, then sixty; it wasn't letting up!

Thinking that they were foes, Rodrigo prepared himself for the upcoming onslaught. However, he began to recognize some of them and realized that they were not enemies, but his friends!

With a stunned look on his face, he began to clearly see the faces of some these people that were emerging; Eugene, Park, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Rhonda, Sheena and Nadine were there!

_They made it out!_ Rodrigo thought happily with a big smile on his face. _They're safe!_

Then, to his even more shock, so was Gerald, Helga, Phoebe, Lila, Harold, Sid, Stinky, Patty and Jason. Heck, even Brainy was there, walking with his usual, creepy, but now somewhat determined smile. All were in front and behind them were a whole group of students that were following them. If Rodrigo thought Caesar's supporters were huge, they now dwarfed in comparison to the crowd that was emerging and heading towards him. It was literally in the hundreds!

Just then, in the front middle, he also noticed another figure. At first he couldn't recognize who it was, but slowly, he saw that the person was white; he had a red checkered shirt, had uncombed blonde hair and his head had a certain…football headed shape?

Slowly but surely, the emerging group soon approached Rodrigo, who was still stunned and breathless at the sheer size of people that came. The entire group then stopped just a few feet away from him.

Meanwhile Caesar, Roger and El just watched on in sheer shock at the amount of people that had just shown up. They realized to their horror that they were not here to help them, but to stop them!

Caesar, like Rodrigo, then saw the same person that was in the middle front of the group and recognized him. He looked different than the last time he saw him, but he could tell that it was definitely him.

"Grr, damn it! It's him!" Caesar said with an angry voice.

"Who?" asked Roger.

"That stupid football head that started it all; Arnold!" He responded back.

Indeed Arnold was ahead of the group, with Gerald and Helga beside him, along with the rest of their friends, clearly indicating to everyone that they were in charge and they brought them here.

To the shock of everyone, they seemed to have brought the rest of the students of Hillwood High, and it wasn't just a heterogeneous group either, but a mixture of different types of people. To Rodrigo's left, he saw Muhammad Iqbal, president of the Islamic Students Organization, walking alongside Gurkiran Singh, president of the Sikh Students Organization, and Arjun Patel, president of the Hindu Students Organization. Because their positions as presidents prevented them from encouraging violence, they had resigned from their positions in order to join up with Arnold. To Rodrigo's left were students from the LGBTQ organization, and throughout were other students of various ethnic/racial, religious and sexual orientation background, with many white teens, although knowing of Caesar's group, had refused to be part of it and everything that it stood for.

A few rows down one could see a group of preppy looking teens, some of who were engaged in friendly conversation with a group of gothic teens, exchanging songs and ideas. Both groups realized that despite their obvious differences, they still had some things in common and were really not that different. Beside them was a Christian group, one of whom was praying and hoping that a fight would not be necessary, as she nervously fiddled with her necklace that had the cross.

"A Sheppard must attend her flock," a female Christian teen whispered to herself. "and at times, fight off the wolves. Lord, please give me strength." Before she made the Christian cross with her right hand.

"Don't worry." Another student, a well known atheist, said to her, "I'll watch your back." As he extended his hand, which the Christian teen smiled and shook it.

To the surprise of many, even some students from the special education program, those with mild mental disabilities such as Down's Syndrome and Autism, but who had the capacity to understand what was happening, were there as well. They too have become victims of Caesar's rumors, resulting many of their own peers looking down on them, as they have been regarded as useless and a burden to society. Now, they are here to demonstrate to everyone that their 'colleagues' were wrong and that they were not going anywhere!

Some students even proudly wore their distinctive cultural clothing and symbols from their home countries.

At the far back of the group were the geeks, the real geeks. They...were an odd bunch. One was dressed as Captain America, although the guy was black. Another geek was dressed as Black Panther, although the guy was white. Another geek was dressed as Spider-Man, although the guy was Chinese. It wasn't Comic-Con so it was anybody's guess as to why they decided to dress up as the Avengers on this day.

Everything that was Rodrigo was fighting for had come as a single, united group, ready to take on who had dared come between them.

It was a grand spectacle really. What and how could these various different people have come together to form a united front against a seemingly dark and hateful force that was threatening to tear everything that had took many, many decades to achieve? Even Rodrigo, ever the theorist, was unable to come up with any effective theory. He had thought Caesar had broken them, made them paranoid against each other and like Caesar, had lost respect for them for ever falling into such a trap.

Rodrigo soon regained some of his focus and looked at his friends, who were clearly not happy. They were all frowning at him, Helga especially who was almost snarling at him, ready to pounce on him for this little stunt that he pulled.

**(Stop playing The Avengers Suite(Theme))**

Despite their angry faces, Rodrigo was nevertheless blissfully happy to them and continued to smile at them

"What the hell took you guys so long?" He sarcastically asked them but with a genuine smile, while trying to keep his balance.

None of his friends said anything and just continued to frown at him. Everyone that is, except Arnold.

Ever the worrying person, the blonde football head was very concerned at how badly Rodrigo was beaten up. He became the first to approach Rodrigo and shook his hand.

"Rodrigo, we came here as fast as we could." He finally said to him.

Rodrigo said nothing and just shook his hand, letting down his smile a bit.

Despite their irritation, his friends were surprised at how badly hurt he looked and wondered how he was still standing after taking just a beating.

"Captain Sanctimony..." Rodrigo began to say to him. "I mean um, Arnold what...what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Eugene wrote to me weeks ago about what has been happening at your school and when he told me that he was re-intiating the Mitigators again, I knew I had to come back and help out." He explained.

Rodrigo then looked at Eugene and just stared at him, waiting for him to explain himself.

"I know we agreed that we were not going to include the rest of our friends," Eugene began to explain, albeit rather sheepishly. "but I have to confess to you, Rodrigo; I had no intention on keeping that promise."

When Rodrigo said nothing and continued to stare at him, Eugene continued.

"So yesterday after school, I asked everyone to meet up and to not inform you about it. When we met up, I told them everything. I told them about the plan, how we managed to get our information about Caesar and his movement, and...I told them your reasons why you didn't want to include them."

"The Mitigators are about helping others, Rodrigo." He continued. "It was meant to inspire others and to give them hope to never be afraid of how they are and to fight for a better world. So it made no sense for us to not include not just our friends, but everyone else. Plus," Eugene then look at his friends and then looked back at Rodrigo, "I have known these people and have been friends with them far longer than I have known you and I was not about to exclude them from such an important event as this."

Rodrigo still said nothing other than continue staring at Eugene. Then suddenly, he launched himself against him and embraced Eugene with a big and tight hug.

"Thank you, Eugene." Rodrigo said to him emotionally. "Thank you for not listening to me. You saved me."

"Oh um, you're...welcome?" Eugene said nervously as he hugged him as well.

While Rodrigo was busy fighting Caesar, Eugene and everyone else ran to meet up with Arnold and their group. Once united, they quickly organized the entire student body and told them what has been going on. They informed them that they found the culprits who were spreading those foul rumors and slanders and the reasons why they were doing it. They informed all the students that they had proof and they were trying to expose them, but they needed their help.

The students who heard their pleat initially did not seem really interested, nor motivated to do anything. Some even advised the group to go to the police with their 'evidence'. But when they informed the students that Rodrigo was at the park, fighting the culprits completely by himself, they even showed them a small footage of their battle, that started getting people's attention and many stopped themselves to listen to what they had to say.

Again, the group tried to arouse the students into following them to the park to put a stop to it, but again the students, although now interested, were still skeptical, although by now some had been won over and were also attempting to arouse their friends. Then, Arnold stepped up and started talking, introducing himself and his friends and explaining to everyone the reasons why they must now unite and work together to face a common threat. Although the higher grades students had no idea who this guy was, many in the lower grades quickly recognized him and, inspired by his leadership on Gerald's field, were quickly won over and aggressively attempted to convince the rest of their fellow students to join them. Yet, despite their enthusiasm, many of the upper grade students were either still skeptical or unsure.

**Back at school...20 minutes earlier...**

"Everyone!" Arnold yelled at the gathering crowd. "We must stand together and face this threat!"

"We're with you Arnold!" A ninth grader yelled.

"Everyone, listen to him! He and his friends fought for us before and here they are, ready to do so again!" Another teen ran around, trying to convince his fellow classmates to listen to the Mitigators.

"Who is this guy? And why is his head shaped like a football?" An older teen asked.

"Ya, why should we follow him?" Another teen asked discouragingly.

"Everyone, it's Arnold and the Mitigators, they are back!" Another younger teen yelled while frantically running around, trying to spread the word.

Helga waited impatiently as Arnold tried to arouse this poor excuse of a mob that was slowly gathering around them. Yet, with every passing minute was another minute lost to go and help Rodrigo and Helga, despite being furious, was growing increasingly concerned. She didn't know who long he would be able to last there, so they needed to get a move on it.

"What the hell is a Mitigator?" An older teen asked.

"I've heard enough, I'm heading out." Said another teen as he started walking away.

Finally, losing her patience, Helga stepped into the spotlight and tried her bit.

"Move it football head." She said as she pushed him aside. "Let a pro do this." She stood in centre of a circle that was forming around the Mitigators

"Oh great, it's the angry unibrow girl!" A teen exclaimed. "What do YOU have to say to us?"

"Pfft, this is a waste of time!" Exclaimed another teen.

"QUIET!" Helga yelled sharply, prompting almost everyone to go silent.

"I was not aware that I was born into a generation that had such sharp tongues, but little stomach to face the challenges of life." She began. "You all know me as that angry unibrow girl walking down the hallways every day. Indeed I am her, but what are you? A bunch of children that cower away at the first sight of trouble? Is that what you are? Is that what this generation is made up of? Oh, how I quibble before your fear!" She continued mockingly.

"I have many reasons to be angry about, but the one thing that infuriates me the most is that this school, alive with so much diversity and life and passion, traits that I have come to love and cherish within these walls, would allow itself to fall prey to the slander and bigotry that has been circulating around us for months! Is that your greatest achievement? To allow yourself to be ripped apart from your friends, your next of kin, your boyfriend or girlfriend? Oh, how I bow down before you such 'brave and honorable people'!" She said sarcastically.

The students listening to her either looked at each other or looked down at the floor in relative shame and sadness. Indeed, few of them have really tried to bridge the growing gap between students and yet even they have failed to stem this growing tide of hate and bigotry. Most just tried to get on with their lives as best as they could, feeling that their efforts would amount to nothing.

"Our school has been attacked!" She continued. "Our way of life, that one we have inherited from previous generations who have spent years trying to achieve is falling apart! And now, when it is up to you, oh brave and noble Generation Alpha, to uphold what hath been given to you by birth, you cower away? What Shame!"

"Some of you know Rodrigo Castile. He is mostly known for befriend this 'angry unibrow girl' that you see before you, but he is more than that. He is one of few people in this world that I deeply care about. He is honorable and kind, who cares deeply about our school and what it is suppose to stand for. And now, he is there, at that park, alone, facing an army of people who want to destroy us, yet he is there, fighting for you, fighting to prevent anymore hate and slander from permeating our school, fighting for OUR diversity, and ourselves and yet, despite that, you still hesitate?"

"But what can we do?" A teen shouted.

"Ya, we're just kids." Said another.

"You do," Helga began to respond, "what previous generations have done when they faced adversity, when they faced threats to their ideals; you fight! You fight to be free; free to live as how each of us see or need to live! You fight to life in a world without fear, without shame of being who you want to be! But if you think that all is lost, fear not! All is lost only if we allow it to be so. Will you allow it?!"

"No!" Cried out a teen.

"Never!" cried out a few others

"Let us fight for what is right!" Cried out another.

At least, Helga saw that she was slowly turning them around. With much fervor, she continued.

"We now have a chance to make a stand against those that want to send us back into the stone age, back into a life of fear, ignorance and superstition. That is why we must stand together. Individually, we are but mere prey for the vultures. But together, we are an unstoppable force! We fight as one, for we are many! By standing together, we have a chance to heal the very wound that those responsible have inflicted upon us! Will you heal?!"

"Yes, of course!" Cried a teen.

"We want to end this!" Cried out another.

"Show us where they are!" yelled another.

"There may be a time when we may fail and not get up, but if you choose it to be so, it is not on this day! There may be time such as now, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship! But if you choose it to be so, it is not on this day! On this day, we get up and fight! We fight for what we have lost, we fight for our friends, for an ideal to always walk into this school with our heads up high and to never cower before others! What do you choose?!"

"WE FIGHT!" Most teens yelled out euphorically.

"Yes! Let us fight!" Many teens cried out.

"What is this school's motto?!" Helga asked.

"In diversity therein lies our strength!" Several teens responded.

"Is it not our very differences that allows us to be stronger? Is it not in our diversity where we find our inspiration, in a diverse array of thoughts and viewpoints that paint this rugged patch of earth so eloquently, so beautifully?"

"Preach on, sister!" Yelled a female teen.

"Then, by everything that you hold dear on this good earth, will you stand and fight?!"

"YEESS!" The crowd roared euphorically, along with a thunderous applause.

Satisfied with another spectacular performance, Helga then joined her friends and prepared to lead everyone to the park.

Finally, inspired and completely smitten by her speech, the students cheered and finally rallied behind the Mitigators and quickly lead them to the park. Using the gossip grape vine and text messaging, their numbers quickly swelled as they left the school.

**Back at the park...**

Rodrigo's friends still remained unsympathetic and continued to frown at him, Gerald and Helga especially. Even Arnold was by now becoming a bit angry at him.

"What were you thinking Rodrigo, trying to tackle all of them by yourself?" Arnold asked him with a disapproving look.

Rodrigo opened his mount in order to explain, if not defend himself, but stumbled on what exactly to say, and how to say it. Truly, what the hell was he actually thinking?

"I got nothing." Rodrigo eventually said.

"Really?" Rhonda said exasperatingly. "You got nothing to say for yourself?" She continued while frowning at him.

"Nope." He responded.

"Trying to go at it alone; how very noble of you." She continued sarcastically. "That's not what the Mitigators are about. Even Helga knew that."

"To be fair, my plan would have worked had your 'boyfriend' not..." Rodrigo began to shot back,

"Oh, shut up, Rodrigo!" Before Helga firmly cut him off as neither she, nor their friends were in any mood to get engaged in another annoying debate with him.

Helga was initially going to bellow out and chastise him doing something so incredibly brave, yet incredibly stupid and selfish. But after seeing how badly beaten he was, she decided to only say this to him,

"When this is all over, you and I are going to have a serious discussion about this, Latino boy." Helga snarled to him.

*sigh* "Yes, Ma'am" was all Rodrigo could say softly.

Seeing how angry she was at him, Rodrigo preferred to face Caesar all over again than to deal with Helga.

_At least with Caesar, I have a fighting chance._ He thought jokingly.

"Same with me, Rodrigo." Gerald said to him while also frowning at him. "I knew you were a bold kid, but what you did is just crazy!"

Rodrigo just sighed, knowing that there was nothing that he could really do to defend himself.

"You know, you could have told them without telling them my reasons." He said to Eugene.

"Ya, I realized that after I told them. Eugene said sheepishly. "Helga didn't take it very well."

"Your lucky we restrained her when we did." Gerald said with a mischievous smile "Had we not done it, you would be looking exactly how look like now, yesterday."

Rodrigo nervously looked toward Helga who was by now snarling at him, trying not to pummel him even more than what he already experienced.

Rodrigo simply gulped and smile nervously at her. For the second time in less than an hour, Rodrigo feared for his life, again.

"¡Hoy, compadre!" (Hey, comrade!) someone called out to Rodrigo

Rodrigo then looked to his left and saw his other friends. Javier, Sebastien, Carmen and Gabriela were here as well. Javier looked at him, smiled and pointed at him before saying,

"¡Por una patria grande!" (For a greater Fatherland!)

Rodrigo smiled and pointed back at him in recognition and thanking them for being here. He noticed that Lamar was also there, standing right beside Javier. Rodrigo realized that they must have reconciled. He turned to his right and to his surprise saw another familiar face.

"Gino?"

"That's right Rodrigo." He said. "Just in case you're wondering why I'm here, Eugene called me yesterday, informing me about everything that has been happening and what you guys were planning on doing. To redeem my actions from five years ago, I wanted to help you guy out."

"Eugene's right." He continued. "The Mitigators are about helping others and knowing when to ask for help. You my friend, really had it coming to you."

Before Rodrigo had a chance to respond, Gino then turned around and instructed his crew that they will now obey Arnold moving forward, until this fight is over.

Rodrigo then turned to face Brainy.

"Hey Brainy, thanks for coming to help us." Rodrigo then casually said to him with a smile.

"Uh, hiya Rod. No worries, glad to help." Said Brainy.

Rodrigo then turned to face his friends.

"I know you are all angry at me right now, and you guys have every right to be. But I just want to say...thanks." Rodrigo said with a shy smile. "Really, thank you. I don't know how I'll make it up to you all, but I promise that I will."

Rodrigo knew now that he was a fool to have tried to do this on his own. He needed help and he should have included everyone instead of trying to do this on his own and get all the glory to himself.

Then suddenly,

***cough**cough* *snort*** Rodrigo then let out spit that was a mixture of mucous, saliva and...blood to the ground. Some blood dripped down Rodrigo's mouth, which he had to wipe with his hand.

"Uh, are you alright man?" Gerald asked him with a now worried look on his face.

"Ya, I'll be fine." He responded back, while continuing to sip.

"Are you sure, Rodrigo?" Arnold asked him again. "Blood came out."

"Ya, it's nothing. The blood came from my mouth" He reaffirmed.

_At least, I think it did._ He thought.

Before his friends had a chance to continue pressing on about his physical and medical condition, Rodrigo quickly asked,

"Eugene, did you get a chance to bring everyone up to speed on the plan?"

"Yeah, I did." he confirmed.

"Good. Then everyone should then know that we need to get that phone before Caesar has a chance to unlock it. We do that, we can put an end to all of this. We need to get everyone to charge and attack them."

"Way ahead of you, Rodrigo." Said Gerald. "We formulated a plan on how to beat them."

"Great, but I don't want people to get carried away in this fight." Rodrigo said. "We just need enough time to get to Caesar and grab that phone, so we don't want to get too violent, otherwise it will defeat the purpose of what we're trying to do here."

"That's easier said than done, Rodrigo. This is more of a mob than an army. We, or rather Helga, kind of got them worked up." Said Gerald as he pointed to the mob that was standing behind him.

Rodrigo turned around and saw in the eyes and faces of the students that were behind them and he could instantly tell that they were out for blood. All were scowling at their opponents, seemingly ready to draw first blood. Angered at being played like fools and dividing them, they looked like they were not going to show their adversaries any mercy.

Rodrigo groaned. "Oh man, why did you do that?!" He exclaimed.

"It was the only way to get these bozos to move." Helga responded back. "You're welcome." she remarked.

"Just pass the word along." Rodrigo grumbled.

Arnold then gave Sheena and Lila some instructions, which they then moved at the back. Arnold then said to everyone,

"Mitigators, everyone; assemble!"

"HO!" The entire group chanted as they all took a step forward and got into position.

"What's the phone's password?" Gerald asked.

"6669." Rodrigo responded.

"Ugh, really Rodrigo?" Helga asked almost disgustingly. "Real mature of you."

"It wasn't my idea. It was Curly's." Rodrigo protested.

Rodrigo then smiled, relieved at finally receiving the help that he desperately needed. Indeed, he felt very blessed to have friends like them, friends that were just as willing to go through almost any adversity, just for him, as he was willing to do for them.

Getting silent, the Mitigators then prepared themselves for the battle of their lives.

* * *

**Just a few responses:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: Oh ya, seeing a bunch of Monarchs flying majestically is beautiful, if not also inspiring. That's why I included one in this story. And Curly will show up soon enough.**


	13. Chapter 13 - The Battle

The Mitigators continued to look at their opponents, silently glaring at them with fire in their eyes. None spoke, allowing an eerie and unnerving silent to take over the entire battlefield. Whatever fate awaited them, they were ready for it. All they needed was the signal. Then, Arnold stepped forward, taking a few steps before stopping.

"Caesar!" He called out. "I'm going to give you a chance to stop all of this! Call off your supporters and end this! Disperse now!"

"There is no need to continue on with this." He continued. "You can end this and no one needs to get hurt."

Caesar stood there, saying and doing nothing as he listened to the opposing armies' conditions. Once Arnold was finished, he only gave them a hand gesture, challenging to come and fight if they dared.

Arnold, upon seeing Caesar's challenge, simply gave a disappointed sigh and with no other choice, raised his hand, signaling the attack. The Mitigators' mob army began to move slowly, walking towards Caesar and his army.

_**(Playing Two Steps from Hell - Black Blade)**_

"Quickly! Get everyone into position! We must meet them head on!" Caesar ordered Roger and El, to which both teens called out to everyone to get into position.

As his army began to organize itself, Caesar meanwhile stood there and growled at Rodrigo and Arnold's mob army. He could not believe the turn of events. Like Rodrigo, he had thought he had broken that school's unity, their spirits. He had never anticipated at the slightest possible chance that they could unite again. Now his blood was boiling at how things were quickly turning against him...just like last time.

_I will not be defeated a second time!_ He thought with vigor.

He knew he was outnumbered, but he didn't know by how much. Nevertheless, he knew that his army was prepared for a fight and hoped that would be enough to force the other into retreat. Plus, he had a backup plan. It's not like he had any other option by this point.

Once his army was in position, he merely pointed forward, signaling the order to attack, which his army then began to also move, walking towards their opposing adversaries.

As both mob armies moved closer to each other, they started to pick up some speed, walking a bit faster and faster. Then, both armies began to jog. Then, they are started running towards each other, trying to pick up as much speed as they could in order to try and cause as much damage as possible. Faster and faster, both armies continued to gain more speed, using their beating hearts to allow their adrenaline to rush through their entire bodies. Faster and faster, both armies got closer and closer, hearts continued to pound, mind and body getting ready for the inevitable collision that was about to take place.

Just then, a group of football players suddenly went around and got in front of Arnold, Helga, Rodrigo, Gerald and everyone else, blocking them just in time from the clash that was about to...

***Crash!**Thud!**Boom!**Thump**!***** They collided with each other and the battle started!

The football players absorbed the initial shock and crash from the opposing army, tackling some of them right into the ground. However, they were soon either tackled themselves or became instantly distracted by other teens that were now swarming them and pushing them into the ground, leaving the gang on their own. Nevertheless, the football players did their job and the gang continued in heading towards Caesar.

Unlike the battle that took place on Gerald's Field five years ago, this battle instantly became a bloody affair. In a split second, all forms of decency, respect and restraints went out the window. All the anger, frustration and hate that had been accumulating inside every student for months was now unleashed with a fury. Couples have been broken up, friendships were terminated, groups were splintered. All that were in the minds of every student in Rodrigo's and Arnold's group was revenge and retaliation for having to put with so much hateful slander that have affected many of them and they now had someone to blame and take their anger out.

Unlike Ludwig's army, Caesar's army was fully committed to the cause and did not waver. No worse, they fought viciously against their opponents, despite being severely outnumbered.

Punches, scratches and whole pounds of muscles, fat and bones were thrown around. No quarter was given. Male students showed no restraints when hitting female students. One male student punched a female student in the stomach, only for him to be viciously attacked by her friends, receiving severe cuts from their nails and getting hit in the groin. Other students grabbed onto two students and started beating them mercilessly, while their comrades held their arms and legs, only to be swarmed by those students' allies and severely beaten in return.

The battle had only lasted barely two minutes and already casualties were quickly mounting on both sides, with some no longer able to walk or even stand. Agonizing screams and yells could be heard throughout the battlefield. Some even tried to get away and attend to their wounds by crawling onto the floor. Some students suffered serious wounds, while others suffered bad bruises on their torsos and faces. Yet neither side showed any willingness to retreat or stop and even those on the ground continued to fight in whatever way they could.

"AAAAAHHHHH OH OH OH OH OH OH!" A Tarzan yelled was suddenly heard.

Curly quickly appeared from the great oak tree, ripped his clothes off, revealing a Tarzan like loincloth, grabbed a branch and slid down as he continued making a Tarzan yell, joining the fight. He let go of the branch and fell down right on top a teen from Caesar's side, stomping him and breaking his fall.

"Thanks!" He said to the guy, who only groaned in pain. Curly then ran up to another teen and then jumped on his shoulders.

"Giddy up! Yeehaaaa!" He called out in excitement, forcing the teen to turn and then collide with another teen, knocking both of them out.

"Well, that was easy." He said happily as he went to look for another victim.

Meanwhile, Rhonda was in the middle of the battle.

"Woohooo" she called out flirteously to a male teen, which got his attention, only for Rhonda to use her iPhone's high camera flash to blind him.

"Ahhhh! My eyes!" The male teen cried out, which Sid then suddenly tackled him, knocking him out.

Rhonda didn't have time to saber her victory, as she then felt a sudden and aggressive grab on her shoulder. Frowning, she quickly grabbed the person's hand, twisted it so hard that he rolled over to the ground, which she then elbowed him to the stomach.

"Don't you EVER put your hands on a lady, got it buster?!" She angrily bellowed at the male teen that was now groaning in pain.

She then took her iPhone out again, adjusted her hair and then took a selfie, showing the injured male teen in the background. Ever since the battle on Gerald's field, she decided to take Jujitsu lessons in order to protect herself.

However, as soon as she took the selfie, another teen accidently bumped into her, knocking her down to the ground and dropping her phone. She tried to quickly grab it, but another teen accidently stomped on it, crushing it.

"NNNNOOOOO!" She shrieked in despair. "MY PHONE! Not again! YOU!" She then looked at the teen who destroyed her phone with a deadly, knife like glare.

Angered, she quickly started running after the teen, who didn't even try to put a fight and tried to get away from her, noticing from her eyes that she was going to rip him apart.

"When I get my hands on you I'm going to dismantle your manhood piece by piece!" She yelled angrily at the teen as she continued chasing after him.

"Help me! She's crazy! Somebody help me!" A scared teen frantically cried out.

Meanwhile, Nadine also was busy fighting off several of Caesar's supporters. Unlike her opponents, she was a black belt and was easily able to fend off more than one person at a time without getting hurt. She punched one teen in the stomach, only for her to quickly turn around and upper cut another teen that was approaching her from behind. Another teen attempted to punch her, but she was able to easily dodge them by using her quick speed, stamina and Karate moves. Then, when the opportunity showed itself, she saw a gap and quickly made for it, attacking the teen with several punches and kicks, knocking her out, all in the less than a minute.

Nadine then smiled, dusted her hands off, and then walked towards to the other side of the battle to continue the fight.

Feeling at one time helpless and a low self-esteem, Nadine had developed an interest in taking Karate from Arnold when he explained how the martial art helped him get rid of the fear of helplessness and helped him regained his confidence. Plus it was just something else to do for a growing up teen.

With Phoebe, she had brought her shinai sword, which she used with deadly effectiveness, hitting anybody that tried to subdue her with just one swing. At one point, she busted a few teeth from a student who got too close to her with just one swing, knocking him out. She was then instantly tackled by a female student, who attempted to take away her shinai sword, but Phoebe used her legs to push her away and swung her sword, hitting the female teen on her face, knocking her out as well.

Park, Lorenzo, Eugene and Peapod Kid all tried to create a leeway for Rodrigo, Gerald, Arnold and Helga, either pushing people or if necessary, throwing a few punches at them.

Gerald was then pushed down by a rival teen, falling hard on the ground. The teen then was about to take a swing at him when ***bong!*** something instantly hit him on the head and knocked him right out. As Gerald got up, he saw what hit the teen and noticed that it was Captain America's shield. He turned around and saw the geek dressed as Captain America.

"Hey, thanks Captain America!" Gerald said as he saluted him. The geek saluted him back and ran to grab his shield, rejoining the fight. Gerald got up and continued with his mission in reaching Caesar.

Meanwhile, Black Panther was busy fighting three teens. To their shock, the geek soon proved to be a formidable opponent. Although not equipped with claws, he knew martial arts, and he quickly subdued two of them, but was then grabbed by the third teen from behind. Black Panther simply grabbed his arm, twisted so hard that hard that the teen had no choice but to flip around, right into the ground. Once he was defeated, he ran against another opponent.

"Seriously?!" Cried the teen whilst in pain. "I just got beat up by a geek?!"

The geek meanwhile dressed as Spider-Man used his own home-made webbing to cause two teens to stick together and to the ground, neutralizing them.

One of the teens was so surprised by this attack that he was considering if this guy was actually Spider-Man, until the teen lifted up his mask to reveal himself.

"Ugh, this is soo humiliating!" Lamented one the teens who was now stuck.

Park, Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Eugene, Arnold, Rodrigo, Helga and Gerald quickly continued to make their way to the center of the battle, where Caesar was. Both Arnold and Gerald tried not to succumb to any violence unless absolutely necessary, but Rodrigo and Helga had no reservations about throwing a few serious punches and kicks. Without hesitation, Helga took a big swing at a female teen that was coming her away, making her fall into the ground in pain.

Rodrigo then saw a friend of his, a white Latino who had joined Caesar, coming towards him, ready to fight him. Without hesitating, he immediately launched himself against his former friend, head butting him right in the face, prompting him to fall right down to the ground.

"Ow, my nose!" Exclaimed the teen in pain.

"¡Te lo mereces, Pablo!" (You deserved it Pablo!) Rodrigo called out as he continued running.

Despite disapproving of their behaviors, Arnold said nothing and continued on with them. Upon finally reaching Caesar, Arnold first tried to get the phone, only for Caesar to simply push him away. Then Gerald stepped in, but after a few punches from Caesar, he fell down to the ground in pain.

Helga then quickly tried her chance in getting the phone. She instantly gave Caesar a few punches and just like Rodrigo, managed to quickly dodge any of his counter attacks. Although haven't really been in a fight for a long while, Helga was no strange to it and soon proved to be a serious challenge. Then suddenly, Patty came in from behind and grabbed Caesar around his arms and waist. Helga saw the opportunity and quickly charged to get the phone, but Caesar used his legs to kick Helga in the ribcage, pushing her to the ground. Caesar then used his elbow to punch Patty a few times on her stomach, ultimately forcing her to let go.

When Harold saw this, he flew into a rage and quickly charged at Caesar.

"No one hurts my Patty and gets a away with it!" He yelled angrily.

However, Harold was suddenly tackled by Roger and El, who were protecting Caesar. Two other teens then came to reinforce them and dealt with Harold, while El then charged against Arnold, who was about to have another go at Caesar, distracting him. He tackled him to the ground and attempted to punch him, but Arnold managed to dodge them all, before head-butting him, thereby making him fall into the ground. Unfortunately, Roger then came and tried to take a few swings at him.

Caesar turned and saw Helga still on the ground, rubbing her ribcage as she groaned in pain. Caesar slowly walked up to her, but to his surprise, Helga quickly threw another punch at him, but he then grabbed her arm, punched her on the face hard twice, and threw her down to the ground again, with her lip busted and her face now bruised.

"This time," he said with an evil smile, "you won't get away." As he moved closer and closer to her. Helga, for the second time, tried to crawl away towards safety, but was unable to get far. To make matters worse, there was no trashcan lid to help her this time. Caesar soon reached her and grabbed her, then just he was about to throw another devastating punch at her when suddenly, Rodrigo and Arnold tackled him, forcing him onto the floor and the two teens immediately started throwing more punches at him.

Rodrigo grabbed hold of Caesar's hand that had the phone and attempted to get it, while kicking him in the stomach and face. Just as he was about to open his palm, Caesar then grabbed and head butted Rodrigo, forcing him to let go. Caesar then used his freed hand to grab Arnold and kicked him in the stomach. Caesar then went for Rodrigo and threw more serious punches on Rodrigo's torso, while he was on the ground. However, Rodrigo then grabbed him and forced Caesar onto the ground, while still wrestling with his hand that had the phone. The two battled each other on the ground, rolling around and trying to shake the other off. Then, Caesar managed to get up, pull his hand away from Rodrigo's grasp, and then kick up on his torso and stomach again, sending him flying.

**(Stop playing Two Steps of Hell – Black Blade)**

Despite the Mitigators' diverse array of fighting and their resolve, it was not enough. Slowly but surely, they were being pushed back, with some retreating, lest they become isolated and at their opponents' mercy. At one time, Rodrigo, Arnold and everyone else at the centre were at risk in being completely isolated. Only the determination of Lorenzo, Eugene, Peapod Kid and Park, along with the rest of their friends fended off repeated waves of counter attacks, thereby succeeded in keeping a line of communication open between them and the rest of their mob army. But those that were fighting was merely the first wave.

Despite the overwhelming numbers that Rodrigo and Arnold's 'army' had, they were not using all of them. About half of them were kept in reserve, led by Sheena and Lila. After several minutes of vicious fighting, both female teens noticed that the first wave was being pushed back. Taking this as their cue, they ordered their columns to advance and began encircling Caesar's army. Lila went around the right side, while Sheena went around the left side.

Taking a page from the military reformist, Shaka Zulu, king of the Zulu kingdom, Arnold, Gerald, Helga and Gino had worked out a strategy before reaching the park. The first wave that had advanced and began fighting Caesar's army was the 'bull's head', whose task it was to pin the enemy down. Then, the 'horns' were tasked with encircling that army, effectively cutting off their retreat and annihilating it, although in this case, these horns were only meant to cut off their retreat, but not necessarily join in the fighting.

Both Sheena and Lila led and ran their columns around the battle, attempting to encircle as many people as possible in a double envelopment.

While Lila was able to complete her task, Sheena however, soon found her path blocked. Much to her shock, she saw what looked like reinforcements coming right at her and they were not there to help her.

Before the battle commenced, Caesar had asked one of his subordinates to contact one of their allies, asking them to meet them at the park and help them out. Thankfully for Caesar, they happily obliged and confirmed that they were on their way. Now, that group of students from another school that shared the trio's racial and cultural superiority ideals had arrived and were making their way towards Sheena's group, preventing her from completely encircling Caesar.

"Quickly, form a line!" Sheena immediately shouted orders to her group.

Those under her command did as they were told and quickly formed a straight line, with the front line holding on to anything to protect them from the initial clash that was about to take place. Some had pillows, while others had cushions, both from sofas or from the gym, anything to protect them. Then, Caesar's reinforcements crashed right into them and quickly attempted to break their lines, but Sheena's group just barely managed to hold on from the onslaught, but it was by now clear that she was unable to complete her task.

Upon completing her encirclement, Lila did not see Sheena's group approaching from the other side. Growing concerned, she herself made her way around the battlefield, maintaining a fair amount of distance from Caesar's supporters. Once she made her way around, she saw to her horror the reinforcements that had arrived and were blocking Sheena. Despite this discovery, Lila realized that she could do little to help Sheena. If she dislodged her group to help Sheena, that would endanger the centre from being outflanked. The only thing left for her to do was to put more pressure on Caesar's exposed centre and hope that would be enough. She quickly made her way back to her group to do just that.

"Everyone, push!" Sheena shouted to her group, who tried to make their way forward, but alas, the reinforcement's numbers proved too much and Sheena's group was slowly being driven back, threatening to outflank the Mitigators' centre. Yet, her group maintained a cohesive front that prevented Caesar's reinforcements from completely overwhelming her. At one point, the pressure got so great that Sheena, despite hating violence, had no choice but to pick up a cushion and tried to defend off from the reinforcement's repeated attacks.

Meanwhile, back in the centre of the battlefield, a teen rushed towards Caesar.

"Caesar!" The teen shouted, prompting him to look at the teen.

"Reinforcements have just arrived!" He reported.

Caesar smile as he became delighted at the news.

"Good! Spread the word and make sure everyone hears it, including our enemies!" He ordered. The teen nodded and proceeded to do his task.

Caesar then looked back towards his opponents, who by now had become dismayed and demoralized by the news.

"Looks like I have all the cards in my hand." He said to Rodrigo and Arnold with a smile, who were just standing and giving him a serious glare.

"Oh man, what do we do now?" Gerald asked, trying not to panic.

"We get that phone!" Rodrigo shouted. "It's our only chance!"

At this point, it was anybody's guess as to who was going to win. Rodrigo and everyone else at the centre of the battlefield were still nowhere near in getting that phone and with reinforcement coming to help Caesar, the Mitigators no longer held the numerical advantage. Yet neither side showed any willingness to retreat and both sides increased their resolve to win, creating more casualties.

It would take a miracle for the Mitigators to win.


	14. Chapter 14 - The New Guard Arrives

**I could like to thank Cre8ivelybrankupt again for providing the idea for this chapter. Hope everyone enjoys it!**

* * *

As the battle raged on, neither side was able to land that decisive blow. However, it soon become apparent that Caesar's group were pushing the Mitigators back. Despite the serious pressure that they were feelings from Lila's group, Caesar's mob army managed to hold them at bay, although this came at a cost in pushing the Mitigators' centre, which was now at a stalemate. However, Sheena's group was facing overwhelming pressure and were starting to buckle. Slowly, the reinforcements were pushing them back, which was now threatening the centre and if that collapsed, all hope was lost. It seemed that Caesar would have his victory over the Mitigators after all.

Just then, drums could be heard from the distance, on Sheena's side. Because it was at first faint, only those close to that side were able to hear them, prompting them to stop fighting. However, pretty soon the drums got louder and louder and then, something else was also heard; singing?

As the noise got louder and closer, more people stopped fighting and looked towards the side where the noise was coming from. The noise soon reached the centre of the battlefield where Caesar, Rodrigo, Roger, Arnold, Helga, El, Gerald and everyone, upon hearing it, stopped fighting as well

"Oh man, what now?!" Gerald cried out in confusion.

"What the hell is that singing?" Caesar bellowed out. "Do you two know anything about this?" He asked Roger and El, to which both teens simply shook their heads.

As the singing got closer, it soon became clear to everyone who heard it that whatever that song was, it was not in English.

_Allons enfants de la Patrie__ (Arise, children of the Fatherland)  
__Le jour de gloire est arrivé__ (The glorious day has arrived)..._

The singing was heard with the drums in the background.

"It's in…French." Rodrigo commented, prompting everyone, friend and foe, to look at him.

"What are they singing?" Gerald asked.

After listening in for a few seconds, "Its…La Marseillaise; the French National Anthem." He said confusingly.

_Contre nous de la tyrannie (Against us, tyranny's)  
L'étendard sanglant est levé (Bloody standard is raised)_

_L'étendard sanglant est levé (Bloody standard is raised)_

The singing got louder and louder as it got closer and closer. Soon, everyone stopped fighting and looked towards where the singing was coming from.

_Entendez vous dans les campagnes (Do you hear, in the countryside)  
Mugir ces féroces soldats (The roar of those ferocious solders?)..._

Just then, the people that were singing La Marseillaise emerged from the horizon, revealing themselves to everyone in their full glory, all while still singing. From there were a group of teens that no one had ever seen before. One of them was carrying a flag that had the colours, blue, white and red. The area from whence they were coming had a bit of a slope, so when they showed themselves, it elevated them a bit, allowing people from the other side of the battlefield to see them.

_Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras (__They are coming right into our arms__)  
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes! __(To cut the throats of your sons, your women!)  
_

They continued to sing, this time loudly, for everyone to hear!

_Aux armes, citoyens, (To arms, citizens)  
Formez vos bataillons, (Form your battalions!)_

_Marchons, marchons! (Let us march ! Let us march!)  
__Qu'un sang impur (Let an impure __blood__)  
Abreuve nos sillons! __(water our fields!)_

It was now clear to everyone who these teens where; they were French, but whose side were they on?

_Aux armes, citoyens, (To arms, citizens)_

They continued to sing...

_Formez vos bataillons, (Form your battalions!)_

_Marchons, marchons! (Let us march ! Let us march!)  
Qu'un sang impur (Let an impure blood)  
Abreuve nos sillons! (water our fields!)_

"Gardez a vous!" (Attention!) A teen girl, who had a softly feminine voice and was in the front middle, cried out. The group then instantly became silent and stood at attention.

Like the rest of the Mitigators, they were a diverse bunch. Many were obviously white French, but there were also a large number who were black, a legacy of French's colonial past. There were also of Indian, Muslims from both the Middle East and North Africa, and even a few Chinese descendents. But these non-Europeans were not here because they were coerced to. No, they came here on their own accord, ready to fight, not for France, or its prestige, but for an ideal, cemented in France's own revolutionary constitution, The Rights of Man.

That same teen girl then took a few steps forward, revealing herself to everyone. She was somewhat tall, had a slender body, with long brunette hair with a French beret hat, looking at Caesar and his group with both a sense of disgust for what he stood for and a determination to stop him.

"Who's the French chick?" Helga bluntly and suddenly asked.

Arnold, upon seeing the girl, recognized her and allowed a big smile to grow on his face, feeling relieved that she arrived, like she said she would in her letters.

"It's her! She is here!" Arnold happily cried out.

"Who?" Everyone shouted, both friend and foe.

"Cecile!" He answered.

"Cecile?!" Again everyone cried out in surprise.

"Wait, you mean your penpal Cecile, the one from France?!" Helga asked.

"Yes!" Arnold answered happily.

"You still talk to her?!" Both Helga and Gerald simultaneously asked in complete surprise.

"Yes!" Arnold responded back euphorically.

"Oohhhh…." Helga groaned and shrank nervously.

Cecile stood determinately on top of the small slope with her hands on her hips, overlooking the battlefield. A gust of wind blew onto her, blowing her thick, lushes brunette hair to flow on one side.

"It's okay!" Arnold shouted. "She is with us! She is with the Mitigators! Quickly, spread the word and tell everyone in our group that OUR reinforcements have arrived!"

This news forced Caesar, El and Roger to look at the football head with a dismayed and angry stare. Arnold merely looked back at them with a triumphant, smirk on his face. The tide has now been turned against them, again.

After their confusing and awkward meeting on St. Valentine's day more than seven years ago, both Gerald and Arnold met up with Cecile the next day and explained everything to her. Arnold confessed what he was trying to do; meeting up with her while also going on a date with Ruth. Obviously, Helga posing as Cecile made things only that much more confusing for Gerald and Arnold and Cecile. Both male teens told Cecile that they have no idea who that girl was, but it was not part of their original plan. While glad to have met that unknown girl who posed as Cecile, Arnold also felt bad for Cecile to come all this way just for him to not give her his full attention and for that, he apologized.

Cecile, although completely baffled by this experience, nevertheless forgave them and proceeded to hang out with Arnold for the remainder of her stay in the U.S.

Despite this experience, both Arnold and Cecile continued to write to each other in the years following that event. Those letters soon turned into emails, but they were sporadic, often them not evening emailing anything to each other for weeks at a time. Because the communication between the two was so infrequent, Arnold never felt pressured to really tell everyone that he was still communicating with Cecile, nor did any opportunity arise for him to tell his friends. Although he did tell Helga about it once, because he never actually said her name (not sure if it was by stroke of luck or intentional), Helga simply thought it was another friend whom he was referring to and didn't bother to ask about it.

Yet nevertheless, they remained in contact with each other. Arnold even managed to email to Cecile, in great detail, the whole story about the Mitigators and the battle that took place on Gerald's field five years ago against Ludwig. Cecile, like everyone else, became so inspired by Arnold's selfless stand for what was right that she joined a group in France who shared the same views and philosophy as the Mitigators.

As she grew and went into high school, she became heavily involved in left-wing groups and organizations that supported an end to discrimination and harassment against immigrants, especially those coming from France's former colonies, an end to France's heavy economic influence on its former African colonies, the full legalization of gay marriage and to stem the tide against far-right organization and political parties emerging in France. Coming from a country with a rich history of political and revolutionary theories and ideas, Cecile read heavily on many French political, social and philosophic thinkers whose ideas continued from the legacy of the French Revolution.

In the weeks following before the re-initiation of the Mitigators, Arnold had sent a letter to Cecile explaining his concern of the serious situation that was occurring at his friends' high school and informed her that he might have to go home to help.

Like Rodrigo, not wanting to be left out again in helping out on such a good cause, Cecile immediately wrote back, telling Arnold that she would gladly help him and his friends out on their time of need and to let her know when he was going to Hillwood so she can rendezvous with him there. Arnold wrote back, thanking her for her support and promised to tell her if he will head home. About a week or so later, the second she received that confirmed letter from Arnold, she immediately bought a one-way ticket to fly to Hillwood on the next airplane.

Cecile arrived in Hillwood one day before Rodrigo's scheduled fight with Caesar. Wasting no time, she immediately went around the city; going to some of the city's few all French high schools or regular public high schools that had French based student organizations, recruiting any student that was willing to listen. She also went around the city's small French community, speaking with many people there. Having some friends/colleagues who were on a foreign exchange program in Hillwood, Cecile used those connections for recruitment. In the end, it wasn't a serious challenge for her to gather enough student teens who were willing to answer the Mitigator's call, although she was only able to muster less than a hundred teens.

The last letter that she received from Arnold explained everything about what was happening at Hillwood High, as well who was responsible. She was given the address of the high school, where she and her reinforcements were supposed to have rendezvoused with the rest of the Mitigators.

Cecile had every intention in meeting up with the Mitigators before they were to leave to go to the park, but not knowing her way around the city, as well as trying to lead so many teens, she arrived late, but just in the nick of time. Luckily she had Arnold's cell number, which she texted to confirm their whereabouts. Arnold informed her that they were already on their way to the park that was close to the school and instructed her to meet her there asap.

Now she was here, back on U.S. soil, ready to make her mark on history. She quickly scanned the battlefield and recognized which side was going to feel the wrath of this new Grande Armée.

"Maurice," She called out to her second-in-command. "Prépare notre troupes pour attaque ceux gens sur notre côté gauche." (Prepare our troops to attack those people on our left side.)

"Oui, mon General." (Yes, General) Maurice confirmed before going back to inform their subordinates.

Shortly after, Cecile turned around to speak to her group.

"Aujourd'hui," She began to speak, "Nous sommes ici, pas pour the gloire de la France, pas pour sa honneur, mais pour corriger le mal qui a été fait par les françaises. Quel mal? La colonisation de autre pays, le mal traitement de ses inhabitants, l'oppression politique contre les minorités. Et actuellement, le discrimination et mal traitement de les immigrants qui viens a le France pour une meilleure vie." (Today, we are here, not for the glory of France, nor for its honour, but to correct past transgressions that have been made by the French people. What transgressions? The colonization of other countries, the ill treatment of its inhabitants, the political oppression against minorities. At present, the discrimination and ill treatment of immigrants who come to France seeking a better life.)

"Rodrigo, what's she saying?" Arnold curiously asked.

Rodrigo just continued to look at Cecile as he smiled and just said, "She's saying that Caesar is dead."

This forced Caesar, El and Roger to look at the Latino kid, this time with a worried and anxious look on their faces.

"En le passé, nous avons commis sérieuse viols de les droits des gens qui n'étions pas européennes. Nous pensions que nous étions supérieur, que nous étions le meilleure peuple en ce monde. C'était une erreur grevé! Nous avons vécu sous un illusion et la domination de le haine. Je dis, non plus! Aujourd'hui, nos luttons pour une meilleure monde, pour une meilleure France, pour être meilleures gens, ensemble, comme camarades!" (In the past, we have committed serious violations of the rights of people who were not Europeans. We thought that we were superior, that we were the better people in this world. We were wrong! We have lived under an illusion and domination of hate. I say, no more! Today, we fight for a better world, for a better France, to be better people, together, as comrades!)

"Viva! Viva!" Her entire group shouted enthusiastically.

"Nous sommes être libre! Libre de la haine, libre de notre pèches passes, et vivre en paix! Cela pourquoi je dis, mort au haïr!" (We want to be free! Free from hate, from our past sins and to live in peace! That is why I say, death to hate!)

"Mort au haïr!" (Death to hate!) Everyone else shouted.

"Viva l'amour!" (Long live Love!) Cecile cried out.

"Viva l'amour!" (Long live Love!) her group cried out in return.

"Laissons-nous fait cet bataille leur propre Waterloo!" (Let us make this battle their own Waterloo!) She cried out.

Cecile's group cheered with a fury, bringing a demoralizing affect on Caesar's mob army, who were now starting to falter at the site of reinforcements.

"Nouveau Garde," Cecile called as she raised her left hand up, "On y va! Avance!" (New Guard, let's go! Advance!) Then lower it down in front of her, signaling the order to charge.

And with that, the entire group charged straight for Caesar's now exposed flank.

"Viva la France!" (Long live France!) Shouted one teen.

"Viva l'equalite!" (Long live equality!) Shouted another teen.

"Viva le fraternité!" (Long live fraternity!) Shouted a third teen.

"Viva l'empereur!" (Love live the emperor!) Shouted another...wait, what?

Caesar's reinforcements hastily tried to counter this new attack, but Cecile's group immediately crashed right into them, smashing right through their lines. Reinvigorated and seeing that victory was now again possible, Sheena ordered her own counter attack.

"Everyone! Attack!" She shouted and charged against them, followed by her entire group, adding more pressure to Caesar's reinforcements. Soon, the Mitigators' numbers became apparent again and were now pushing Caesar's reinforcements inward, towards inside a circle that was now forming around Caesar's mob army. It looked as if the Mitigators could win...

* * *

**In 1815, at the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte, outnumbering his opponent, was facing against Sir Arthur Wellesley, later as the 1st Duke of Wellington. At the crucial moment, Marshall Blucher's Prussian troops began entering the battlefield and attacked Napoleon's right flank. Napoleon then released his famous Old Guard, his elite units, to break Wellington's lines, but failed and were repulsed. Napoleon's army lost heart and began to retreat, achieving victory for the Allies and finally ending the Napoleonic Wars.**

**In this story, I replaced the name 'Old Guard' with the 'New Guard' in referencing to the Napoleon's former Old Guard unit, to demonstrate the continuing struggle in fighting for the ideals that were laid out in Revolutionary France's Constitution, the Rights of Man. Also, Cecile's group attacked Caesar's now exposed right flank, thereby making a complete reversal of the famous battle that was a French defeat, with it now being, seemingly, a French victory. Unless of course Caesar has another trick up his sleeve.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Forgivness?

Upon seeing Cecile's group entering the battle, Rodrigo facially gestured to both Arnold and Gerald, signaling to quickly attack Caesar while he was still distracted. Both Arnold and Gerald acknowledged and quickly launched themselves towards him, causing them to fall right into the ground. Realizing what was happening, Roger and El soon joined in and attempted to pull both Arnold and Gerald away, but they were soon tackled by both Sid and Stinky, which then created a domino effect. Soon, everyone started fighting again, effectively re-starting the battle.

Caesar used his free right leg to kick Gerald right in his face while he was being pulled, forcing him to let go. Caesar than immediately attempted to kick Arnold as well, but Helga put her foot right in the path of Caesar's, effectively tripping her and causing her to fall right on top of him.

Wasting no time, Helga attempted to grab the phone again, but Caesar quickly pulled his hand away and used his other hand to grab her two pigtails, pulling her hair hard away from him.

Arnold attempted to help her, but he was again distracted by two teens who tried to attack him, forcing him to concentrate on them.

"Ahhh! Let me go you big waste of human filth!" She cried out in anger and pain.

Caesar didn't answer and just head-butted her right in the face, almost knocking her out unconscious and rendering her helpless now.

But before he could anything else, Rodrigo immediately threw himself onto him, knocking him down again and started to viciously hit him, forcing him to release Helga in order to protect himself.

While Helga remained on the ground trying to regain her composure, Rodrigo continued with his relentless attack. By now he was completely exhausted, but after seeing what Caesar to Helga, he flew into a rage and used whatever energy he had left to get him off of her.

Caesar then saw an opportunity to punch Rodrigo in the stomach again, prompting him to use one of his arms to protect his now damaged stomach. Caesar again tried to punch Rodrigo, this time in the face, but he grabbed it with his other hand. Using his other hand that had the phone, he quickly put it in his pocket and tried to punch Rodrigo again, only for the Latino kid to use his other hand to grab it as well. For the second time, Rodrigo then immediately fell onto the floor and while still holding onto Caesar, used the momentum to threw him backwards and using that momentum to lift himself up and fall right on top of him. However this time, Caesar simply rolled over to one side, forcing Rodrigo to grab him by his torso.

For a while, both teens just rolled around again on the floor, wrestling with each other. Rodrigo tried several times to grab the phone, only to fail every time.

Losing his patience, Caesar then grabbed onto Rodrigo's shirt and managed to punch him in the face, but Rodrigo didn't budge. Caesar tried again a few times, to which Rodrigo finally had to back away onto the side, which Caesar aggressively pushed him away with his feet, almost sending him flying.

"You can't win, Rodrigo." Caesar said to him with a smile. "All of this…this is inevitable. You can't stop it!"

"Caesar!" El called out to him. "Just destroy that phone!"

Caesar had earlier attempted to log into the phone to stop the download, but was unable to. Seeing this phone as a serious nuisance now, he listened to El. He grabbed the phone from his pocket, threw the phone on the ground and stomped it with his foot, destroying it completely.

"I guess you don't win today." He said to him with a smile. However, his smile soon faded when he saw that Rodrigo was also smiling.

As Rodrigo got onto his feet, he then revealed to Caesar that he had in fact finally grabbed the phone and during their wrestling on the floor, had given Caesar his.

When the fighting started again, Cecile's group showed their worth and it wasn't long before they managed to push those reinforcements inward, allowing Sheena's group to complete their encirclement.

Once Sheena's group met up with Lila's, the encirclement was now complete and caused Caesar's mob army to start panicking. Many tried to break free from the encirclement, but to avail. Whatever cohesion that group had was now lost and any attempts to break free was done individually, rather than by a coordinated counterattack. Lila's And Sheena's groups had little trouble in preventing any breakouts.

Once it became apparent that they were now trapped, panic started to set in, with many starting to lose heart and thus, stopped fighting. Some even lifted their hands up in surrender. once Caesar's troops stopped fighting, those on the Mitigators' side also stopped fighting.

Caesar soon noticed that the fighting around him was dying down, and he looked around to see what was happening. He saw to his dismay, that he and everyone else were now trapped and his army was quickly losing heart.

Roger and El also noticed that the fighting was dying down and when they got up to see what was happening, they became dismayed that the battle was quickly turning against them.

"What the hell do we do now?!" Roger asked Caesar in a panic.

Caesar said nothing back and merely stared at Rodrigo with a serious scowling face. There was nothing for him to do. He was now trapped and his army had effectively stopped fighting. Rodrigo had the phone. Caesar had lost the battle.

Once the battle died down, Cecile attempted to make her way towards the centre. Once she arrived, she saw Arnold, who was busy helping Helga up.

"Helga, are you ok?" Arnold asked her worryingly.

"Ya, I'm fine..." She grumbled as she slowly stood up. "just have a massive headache."

"Arnold!" Cecile suddenly called out with a heavy French accent and ran up to him.

Once making sure that Helga was able to stand on her own, he turned to towards Cecile just in time, as she launched herself at him and give him a big hug. Arnold, although taken a bit back, warmly reciprocated.

"It's so good to finally see you again, mon ami!" Cecile happily exclaimed as she gave him two kisses on each cheek.

"It's nice to see you again too, Cecile." Arnold responded back. "Thank you so much for coming to help us."

"Ya, you practically saved our butts." Gerald interjected as he dusted off dirt from his clothes.

Upon hearing Gerald's voice, Cecile gently let go of Arnold and walked towards him.

"It is so nice to see you again, _Gerald_." She said with a heavy emphasis on his name and gave him two kisses on each cheek.

"Likewise Cecile." He said, taking notice of heavy emphasis.

Cecile then turned to look at Helga, who was both still reeling from the head-butt and also nervous at seeing the real Cecile. She did not know if Arnold every told her who that girl was that posed as Cecile, so she didn't know how the real Cecile was going to react towards her.

But Cecile just gently walked up to Helga and said, "and you must be Helga Pataki." She said, not pronouncing the letter 'H' when she said Helga's name.

"Hehe, the one and only." She said nervously.

"It is so nice to finally meet you." She said as she quickly gave Helga a gentle hug, much to the blonde girl's surprise. Cecile then planted two kisses on each of Helga's cheek.

"Whoa, whoa there Frenchie!" Helga retorted as she attempted to wrestle herself away from Cecile's hug. "Enough with the touchy stuff. I don't swing that way, you know." As she crossed her arms and pouted.

Knowing the cultural differences between France and the U.S., as well a bit about Helga's personality, Cecile simply giggled and took no offense to Helga's rejection of her greeting.

Cecile then turned and saw Rodrigo, who by some miracle, was still standing.

"And you must be Rodrigo." She said as she walked towards him.

Rodrigo said nothing and just continued to stare at her.

"It's nice to meet you." She said, as she extended her hand with a smile. "I don't want make your injuries worse, so perhaps a simple handshake would..."

Rodrigo then suddenly just launched himself at her and embraced her with a big hug, surprising everyone, including her.

"Merci beaucoup, Cecile" (Thank you so much, Cecile) He softly said to her. "Vous nous avez sauvé" (You saved us).

"Oh um, de riens, Rodrigo." (Oh um, you're welcome Rodrigo) Cecile responded back while still being a bit surprised.

Rodrigo then let her go, gently grabbed her hand, kissed it, and then said, "_enchanté_, mademoiselle." (Pleased to meet you, mademoiselle)

"Moi aussi bon monsieur." (Same here, good sir.) Cecile responded, this time rather flirtatiously.

"Nous sommes en ta dette." (We are in your debt.) He continued to say as he also continued to hold her hand while still smiling at her. Cecile in turn smiled back.

"Alright, alright, break it up you two!" Helga suddenly blurted out, as she made her way right in between the two teens, forcing them to let each other's hand go.

"Rodrigo, don't you have some unfinished business?" She asked him as she gestured at the phone that was on his hand while giving him a stern look.

Rodrigo then looked at Caesar, Roger and El who were anxiously standing and awkwardly waiting for this 'reunion' to end and also for the inevitable. Remembering why he was here, he instantly dropped his smile and started to scowl at them.

"Right." He said and he started walking towards them. After only taking a few steps, he stopped and held up the phone for them to see.

"This...is for all the damage...you three have caused!" Rodrigo angrily shouted at them and showing to everyone that he now had the phone He then unlocked it and showed it to the trio that all that was needed was to press the button, 'download'.

Roger and El looked on with petrified fear on their faces. They saw the end of their lives right in front of them. They knew that once that footage gets leaked, society will show them no mercy. They will be shunned, marginalized, hated by everyone, perhaps they may even face imprisonment.

After a few seconds of silence, seeing that there was no longer any way out, they started to seriously falter.

"You...You can't!" El suddenly said to Rodrigo.

That surprised Rodrigo but remained firm to the course.

"Oh I beg to differ." He said. "I can and I will."

"No, wait!" Roger called out to Rodrigo with a serious sense of fear in his tone. "You...please don't press that button."

Caesar meanwhile said and did nothing.

"Are you...begging?! Rodrigo asked them with a stunned look on his face.

After some hesitation, El responded.

"Y-Y-Yes. We're begging you to not press that button. It's over, you've won." He stuttered worryingly. "Please don't press that button. If you do, our lives will be ruined."

That did not seat well with Rodrigo, as their pleading only made him more angry.

"Your lives?" He rhetorically asked. "Your lives?! What about the lives of these other people?! What about the lives that you have ruined?! What about the transgendered teen that you beat up two months ago?! Do you actually think you can do all of this and get away with it?!" He angrily bellowed at them.

Roger and El said nothing and merely looked down, almost shamefully.

Meanwhile, both mob armies just looked on with confusion, not really knowing what Rodrigo was talking about and why that phone was so important. Those on Caesar's side were also irritated at how Roger and El were easily throwing away everything that they have been doing for the past two months, all for a measly little phone.

"We...we can change." Roger finally spoke.

"Oh, I know you can change." Rodrigo said to them. "But you've had your chance to change! That's no longer good enough, nor is it enough to do justice for the lives and friendships that you have broken!"

"Pfft!" Caesar interjected. "People don't change! They never do. Any attempt in actually trying to do is pure fantasy. People are what they are!"

"People can change!" Rodrigo insisted. "You know how I know? Because I used to be like you!" He blared out.

That last sentence got the attention of everyone, including Caesar, Roger and El and Rodrigo's friends who looked at the Latino kid with shocking facial expressions.

"I used to be homophobic and racist." Rodrigo began to confess. "But unlike you three, I learned from my mistake and I chose to change. Yes, it wasn't easy. I had to force myself to do it, but I did it! You Caesar, just don't want to!"

"You two say you want to change?" He asked Roger and El. Both teens simply nodded.

"I don't believe you." He said to them. "You don't want to change because you have seen the error of your ways and are remorseful for what you've done. You are merely saying that just to save your own skins! You are not doing it for the right reasons!"

"No, no! We can change!" Roger pleaded in a panic. "Just give us a chance!"

Caesar now looked at both of his former 'allies' with a sense of anger and disgust.

"You cowards!" He angrily scoffed at them. "You are just like Ludwig! When push comes to shove, you are nothing but a punch of spineless worms. You never believed in this cause! Traitors!"

Roger and El simply ignored Caesar and continued to look at Rodrigo with pleading eyes, hoping for some sense of sympathy from him.

"I agree with Caesar." Rodrigo said. "You two are nothing but cowards."

"At any other time, there may have been a chance for you three to redeem yourself. But it is not this time. This time, there is only swift and brutal justice." He continued.

Finally, having enough of this, Rodrigo then lifted the phone and with a mischievous smile, said to them, "And justice is best served on a cold dish."

But just as he was able to click on the button, a hand gently grabbed his shoulder. It was Arnold's.

"No Rodrigo," He began to say to him. "Let them go."

"What?!" Rodrigo exclaimed in shock. "You must be joking?!"

Arnold just shook his head.

"After what they did to our school for two months, the damage they've caused, the people that got hurt, even now, you want me to let them go?!" He angrily asked with a raised voice.

"Yes." Arnold calmly responded back.

"Y-You don't know what you're talking about, Arnold!" He exclaimed, still in disbelief.

"Actually, I do know what I'm talking about." Arnold began to calmly explain. "I was like you in the end, after what Ludwig did, I lost it. I was no longer about doing this to make things better for anyone, only to just satisfy this lust for revenge..."

"Look, football head!" Rodrigo suddenly cut him off and just as quickly, turned around and gave him an angry scowling face, mere inches away from his, prompting Arnold to be a bit taken aback by Rodrigo's sudden aggression and to take a step back from him.

Indeed, the rest of the gang was also surprised by Rodrigo's sudden aggression and were even about to physically intervene, stopping only when it became clear that Rodrigo was not going to put his hands on Arnold.

Even more so, everyone was surprised that he called Arnold, 'football head'. No one, other than Helga calls him that, so no one was really sure who what to make of it, or how to react. Even Helga was surprised and for a while, remained frozen. Calling Arnold, football head was her moniker, her pet name for the person who did so much for her and for everyone else, whose influence was not only profound and everlasting. So, she was not taking it lightly that this person, regardless of who he was to her, would have the guts to ever call Arnold by that name. However, no wanting to aggravate the situation, she reframed from doing or saying anything.

"You don't go to this school, you don't know what we have been dealing with! You weren't here to see many of our friends be ripped apart because of these three imbeciles!" Rodrigo yelled in anger. "This isn't about dumping some kids onto a few trashcans! This is about righting the wrongs that these three have committed against virtually everyone in this school! This about putting a stop to hate, ignorance and outdated mentalities once and for all!"

"I know what this is about, Rodrigo and you are right, this is more than just throwing kids onto trashcans." Arnold continued to say calmly. "I know you're angry and you have every right to be. But doing this is not the right thing, for them, or for you. Don't you see? You are acting out of hate, hate for them and what they stand for. How different are you right now from them? You are not doing this for justice, but for revenge, for hate."

Despite still being furious at Arnold for wanting him to let them go, he knew that he had a good point, one that he was not able to ignore. Despite his anger, he lessened his aggressive demeanor against the blonde, football headed teen.

"Arnold's right, Rodrigo." Gerald then intervened. "It's over. We've won. We've proven our point. I mean look at them; they are practically on their knees. How much more pathetic do you want them to be?"

Rodrigo however, was still not convinced and was given his friends a scowling face, completely stunned that his own friends were not siding with him, after everything that he has gone through.

"Hahahahaha!" Caesar suddenly laughed, forcing everyone to look at him. "Oh, this is too much. What nostalgia! But go ahead, press that button." He challenged him.

"It changes nothing." He continued. "You may have stopped me, but there will be others that will take up the cause and continue the struggle to rid this country of filthy scumbags like you! So go ahead, do it, I dare you!"

Roger and El looked at Caesar in abject horror, frightened and angry that he is actually daring Rodrigo to press that button and discarding them like that.

For Rodrigo, he was now irritated that Caesar seemed to be unfazed by the mere threat of being exposed as a racist bigot and is actually challenging him to press it. He had hoped to petrify him with fear, just as he had done to Roger and El and place him at his mercy. Now, he realized that Caesar is fully committed to his cause and will gladly sacrifice his life for it, a fact that Rodrigo had underestimated.

However despite this, Rodrigo remained unconvinced about letting them walk out of this alive.

"Rodrigo," Helga then calmly interjected, "Just let them go."

"What?" He said to her now in utter shock.

_Et tu, Helga?_ He thought.

"Gerald's right. There's nothing else for you prove. You've made your point. Pushing that button won't solve anything, other than getting more people hurt."

Rodrigo could not believe his luck. None of his friends were on his side. He started becoming extremely aggravated, if not even more angry at the fact that if he let them go, he ended up going through all of this for nothing! That was essentially what they were asking him to do!

As a last, desperate resort, Rodrigo then looked at Cecile.

"um Cecile, un petit de aidez, s'il vous plait?" (Um Cecile, a little help please?) He asked her, hoping if she would understand. However, Cecile just shook her head.

"Je suis désole Rodrigo, mais Arnold a la raison." (I'm sorry Rodrigo, but Arnold is right.) She answered back softly. "C'était le même que s'est produit en ma chérie France en 1794, pendent la Terreur, sous la direction de Maximilian de Robespierre. Si vous appuyez sur ce bouton, vous serez exactement comme lui et vous vas commencer autre terreur dans ton école." (It's the same as what occurred in my beloved France in 1794, during the Reign of Terror under the direction of Maximilian Robespierre. If you press that button, you will be exactly like him and you will start another terror in your school.)

"Please Rodrigo, don't press that button." She pleaded with him in English. "You are better than this."

"Ya, what she said." Gerald interjected. "What did she say?" As he looked at Helga.

"Something about Robespierre and the Terror." Helga nonchalantly responded.

"Ah, gotcha." Said Gerald.

Rodrigo instantly regretted in even asking the French teen for her help, but nevertheless her warning struck a chord. Finally, facing mounting pressure, especially after Helga sided with Arnold, Rodrigo was now starting to question his motives and this entire operation.

"Yes, be that person. Press that button!" Caesar again challenged him with a smirk.

Caesar wasn't fanatically committing social suicide. In fact, he had one last trick up his sleeve. Although devoted to the cause, if he could avoid becoming a social outcast and even imprisonment, he would. Caesar was actually hoping for Rodrigo make the same decision that had Arnold made with Ludwig; to let them go. By playing into their fear of becoming like them, Caesar hoped that would deter Rodrigo to not press that button, in the same way as Arnold wanted to avoid becoming like Ludwig.

Rodrigo again looked at him, but said nothing other than giving him a scowling face.

"Helga and Cecile are right, Rodrigo." Arnold added while ignoring Caesar. "That's not why Eugene created the Mitigators. It was never about revenge, or retaliation. Look what we did to each other because of that. Look at how many of us are hurt." As he pointed out to everyone. "The Mitigators were created to stop the hate and the exclusion, but never to seek vengeance. If you push that button, that's all you are looking for; revenge. And all you will have caused is more people getting hurt."

Now Rodrigo was even more perplexed. He thought he was sure that this was the right path to not only get justice, but to also try and undo all the harm and damage that they have caused. Was he wrong?

"That's for sure." Gerald then added. "I mean look at you, Rodrigo. You're practically enjoying their suffering. You're not doing this because it is just; you are only doing this because it is satisfying you. You want them to suffer. If you press that button, you are no better than them and that's not why we came here for. Just let them go. Let's just move on."

Rodrigo said nothing and just thought about what his friends had just said to him. He then looked around, scanning everyone who was either standing or on the ground. After some thought, he realized that Arnold, Helga and Gerald...were perhaps right. The Latino kid had invested so much of himself into this fight that he inadvertently made it personal, made it into something about himself, not for others. Plus, he knew from the very beginning that if he pressed that button, he would be exposing not just Caesar, Roger and El, but also anyone else that was affiliated with the moment, down to the common foot soldier. Even more so, there was also the possibility that those who had nothing to do with Caesar's movement would somehow be caught in the crossfire. He didn't need Cecile to tell him that, but the thought of her comparing him with Robespierre truly shocked him! A lot more people would be hurt if he pressed that button. Was that justifiable? To let the innocent suffer along with the guilty?

As he continued to look around, he saw with shock and distraughtness at the carnage that the battle had inflicted on everyone. While some only sustained minor cuts and bruises, there were many others who had more serious injuries. Many had bruises and cuts in their bodies. Some were bleeding, while others had dislocated or even broken bones! Rodrigo could hear the groans and even saw some teens crying due to the pain that they were experiencing. Some were even so badly injured that their friends were busy taking care of them, ripping out clothes as bandages and distributing whatever little water was available, even to those who were on the opposing side. Indeed, some of Caesar's own supporters were so shocked by the carnage that they also decided to help out those who needed it, including those from the opposing side. Most of the teens that fought on that day were in some ways or form hurt, with some needing actual medical attention.

Blood had been spilled, but the Mitigators had accomplished what they set out to do. They put an end to Caesar's attempt in dividing the school's diverse student body. They prevented Caesar from uniting with other organizations that had the same hateful viewpoint. By getting the students to unit and fight against a common enemy, they had even reversed some of the damage and division that Caesar had inflicted. It seemed that much of the cohesion and unity that Rodrigo thought was lost could now return. Was that enough? Slowly, Rodrigo began to think so.

The more he thought about it, the more he succumbed to his friends' wisdom and slowly, he lowered the hand that was holding the phone, signaling to everyone that he was slowly relenting.

Roger and El said nothing but looked on with a sense of hope in their eyes that perhaps they can come out of this unscathed. Slowly, their optimism increased with each time that Rodrigo continued lowering his hand.

_Maybe I should let them go._ Rodrigo thought. _I mean, why not give them a chance to change? I could use the footage as leverage and threaten them with it if they start falling astray. Ludwig did it, Curly did it, hell even Helga changed. Maybe they will change too._

Taking notice of Rodrigo's hesitation, Arnold opted to offer some further encouragement, something that had occurred him on Gerald's field that day and it was the reason why Arnold was able to let Ludwig go, at least to some extent.

He initially thought he did it to demonstrate to Ludwig that he was better than him. However, he soon realized that there was something more profound that have induced him to show any kind of compassionate/mercy toward his adversary. There was no way he would have been able to let Ludwig go, unless he was willing to more or less forgive him for what he did. He may not have completely forgiven him, but it was enough for Arnold to not give Ludwig a 'taste of his own medicine' as it were, nor to punish him any further than what he already did to him.

Ludwig himself said it that he was once like Arnold, an optimistic kid who had faith that there was good in this world, only for him to go through a series of unfortunate events that demonstrated to him just how cruel this world really was. In his frustration, instead of willing to forgive for what other people did to him, he took his anger out at everyone and induced in himself a false sense of superiority by trying to reinstall Trashcan Day and wrecked havoc and fear upon the lower graders. To Arnold, the message was fundamentally clear on that day: What better way to show your adversary that you are better than them by willing to do for them what they were unable to do for others; forgive. Without that, one is doomed to repeat history.

"The Mitigators is not about just stopping oppression and hate. It is also about giving people a second chance; to let them move on without hate in their hearts. But in order to do that, we must forgive them." He said with a sense of optimism.

When Rodrigo heard that, he quickly turned around to look at Arnold.

"Forgive?" He asked him, to which the blonde football head nodded with an encouraging small smile.

"We can't expect them to move on if we continue to judge them for their past actions. They, nor us will ever be able to move past it. If we don't forgive them, then we are not giving them a second chance." He added.

For a while, Rodrigo just look at Arnold. But then, he began to give him a frowning face.

"Forgiveness...must be earned, Arnold. THAT is inevitable." He said to him sternly.

And with that, ***click***.

* * *

**Ya, I think Arnold should have just not said anything, but oh well.**


	16. Chapter 16 - Virtue or Terror

**Hi everyone! So I was barely able to finish this chapter early this week in honor of the 23rd anniversary of the first Hey Arnold! episode to ever air on TV, 'Downtown as Fruits'. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

In less than a second, a burst of electromagnetic radio wave blasted throughout the area, touching the satellites and antennas nearby, only for a return signal to bounce back. Pretty soon, some smart phones started vibrating or made their ringtones throughout the battlefield. Any student who still had a functional phone picked it up, logged in onto their respective social media networks and started watching the video. Others turned on their wifi in order to see if they also received the same video. Most of them did. Those that did not simply turned to the nearest person and asked if they can also see it.

"Rodrigo, what had you done?" Arnold asked in disbelief.

"What needed to be done." He simply responded back sternly.

After some minutes, it became apparent why the phone was so important. There it was, proof that Caesar, Roger and El had instigated the whole thing. They were the culprits! The look on everyone's faces, including those who had supported them were...shocking to say the least.

Once everyone saw the footage, there was dead silence throughout the park, but everyone was now looking at the trio with deadly glares in their eyes.

The non-white and white but non-European teens who had joined Caesar's group took the footage particularly hard. Many of them were of first generation born Americans. While growing up here, they grew up in a household whose parents were immigrants, bringing with them their own culture and viewpoints, a factor that sometimes brought the teens into conflict with their families. Many of these teens, finding it hard to reconciliate the culture of their parents' home countries with American culture, found Caesar's group to be appealing, as he advocated one culture, one way of thinking in which everyone can be a part of and no longer having to deal with multiple, conflicting viewpoints. Seeing this as their answer, they flocked to him, thinking that they considered them to be full-blown Americans and thus, finally having a place where they can belong. But now, after watching the footage and realizing that Caesar, El and Roger were only using them as mere pawns and never considered them to be part of the group, they now felt utterly betrayed. They had essentially sacrificed the culture of their forefathers in order to be part of this supposedly new world that Caesar was trying to build, a world they thought they had a place in. Now, that was not so.

Rodrigo saw Pablo watching the video and he could immediately tell just how distraught he was becoming. He was so upset by this that tears were starting to develop. Rodrigo could tell that a piece of him died on that day. Although feeling bad for his friend, he made no attempt to go over there and comfort him, still believing that he deserved his fate for being naïve in believing in Caesar and what he stood for. As far as Rodrigo was concerned, the enemy of my enemy are both my enemies.

Angered at being made of fools and mere pawns in their scheme, some of those teens then began approaching Caesar, Roger and El, ready to tear them to pieces.

Roger and El meanwhile said nothing and both simply collapsed onto the ground, knowing full well that their futures were now tarnished and left at the mercy of the mob.

Caesar for his part, said and did nothing other than continue to scowl at Rodrigo and the Mitigators.

Seeing the oncoming students approaching their 'former' leaders, Rodrigo immediately stepped in and prevented the teens from hurting the trio.

"Stop!" He called out to them. "They are not worth going to prison over. Let justice be served onto them and let them suffer; they deserve it."

After some initial hesitations, the teens slowly started moving back, with some spiting on the trio's faces as they moved away.

As the teens went back to the circle that by now had formed around, Rodrigo realized that everyone was now looking at him. Seeing as how he now had everyone's attention, Rodrigo then prepared to deliver HIS speech.

Rodrigo had to practically limp his way towards the centre of the huge circle. Although not suffering any broken bones, his body was damaged, he was bleeding from the mouth, face and other parts of his body. His muscles were bruised and severely hurting him, his right arm was hurting him so much that he had trouble moving it, as he thought he might have seriously twisted it. Also for some reason, he started having trouble breathing. His insides were also hurting. His body has been on overdrive throughout this whole time that he initially didn't feel much pain, until now.

***cough**cough**snort*** then Rodrigo spit another mixture of more saliva and blood. Again, Rodrigo had to wipe some of the blood that was now dripping from his mouth.

_Oh no_... He thought, fearing the worst, but remained calm as he began to speak.

"For those of you who don't know me; I am Rodrigo Castile de la Serna." He began. "I wasn't born here. Like everyone one of you, my family I and immigrated when I was young, so I have spent most of my life in this country. For those of you who fought besides them," as he pointed to Caesar, Roger and El, who were now mentally lamenting over their defeat and tarnished reputations, "I ask you; what you were hoping to gain by joining them?"

He looked around, looking at everyone.

"What? You all thought that you were better any everybody else? Is that what you wanted? Power? Respect?! I'll tell you right now that you've achieved none of those today! The only thing that all of you have succeed in is spreading hate and misery into our school and it took everyone else to stop it!"

"Apparently," he continued, "what all this reveals is that we have not yet learned to live together in both peace and harmony, on both sides of this fight. We have not yet learned to understand one another in order to leave side by side peacefully. Instead, we have stubbornly chosen to still stick to our old stereotypical, prejudiced and biased views about ourselves and about other groups. From what I see, sticking to our old and outdated mentalities is far more easier than to change them. That is truly sad and disappointed."

While Rodrigo spoke, Arnold noticed that he was being very wobbly. He realized that Rodrigo was having a hard time standing up and he was constantly moving, trying to not fall down.

"Gerald," Arnold whispered to his best friend. "is your phone still functional?"

"Ya, why?" He asked.

"Something is wrong with Rodrigo. He maybe more hurt than we realize. Dial 911 and get an ambulance here; for him and for everyone else."

Gerald began dialing and started to move away from centre of the circle.

Helga heard what Arnold said and although she started getting worried about the Latino kid, she continued to hide her growing sense of concern for him, as usual. But needless to say, it was becoming harder to keep up with the tough facade, while knowing that Rodrigo seriously hurt.

"You're all mad at them?" Rodrigo asked everyone as he pointed to Caesar, Roger and El. "Why? Because they made everyone of you look like fools? Because they played everyone of you? You shouldn't be mad at them. You should be angry at yourselves! You hate them? You should be hating yourselves for ever buying into their crap and for ever allowing any of their rumors, blackmailing or slanders, no matter how true they are, to come between your friends and next of kin; between your morals!"

"You think this was victory of us? For the Mitigators? It's not. This wasn't a success, but a failure on everyone's part from trying to prevent this from happening! We didn't win, we failed!"

Those that fought on the Mitigators' side looked at Rodrigo with shock and surprise on their faces. Rodrigo noticed their facial expressions and promptly answered them.

"What, you thought this was going to be a typical us vs. them scenario? There is no such thing. It is either all of us, or none of us! We are all in this together! Their failures are also your failures! No one should ever be excluded and be made an outcast simply because you don't want the burden of helping them!"

This was completely unexpected. Those that came to help Rodrigo hadn't expected to be criticized, most of all by him. While some frowned at him, as they felt he was not appreciating what they put at stake on that day, many others took his words took heart, as it drove right to the heart of the matter and none felt obliged to stand up. As much as they didn't want to admit it, Rodrigo's words ringed true; they came here simply to put a stop to Caesar's hateful antics and for revenge. They hadn't thought there was also the expectation for them to somehow help those that were responsible for the mess that they now found themselves in, much less consider them to be 'one of them'.

"We now live in the 21st century and by all accounts this despicable garbage of racism, homophobia, sexism and other discriminatory behaviors and practices should no longer be happening! We should no longer be doing this to each other! We should be better than that! But sadly, we are still not!"

"All of you present here were the ones that allowed these stooges to divide you from your friends and next of kin! All of you were the ones that allowed yourselves to get suckered in by their rhetoric. For those that fought against us, you shamefully allowed yourselves to believe that you are somehow 'superior' than anyone else. Your hatred and ignorance of others stemmed not because those that are different from you are an actual threat. Rather, it stems from your inability or unwillingness to embrace their viewpoint, their culture, while also embracing yours! Those that cannot do this are essentially egotistical narcissists because you think that your views, your culture is the right one, while not even taking the time understand someone else's!"

"Look at what all of your ignorance and hatred has brought us. Look at how many people you just hurt, all because of your selfishness! As far as I am concerned, you all deserve to share in their fat!"

"What were you trying to do? Continue with the status quo? Because you weren't able to grasp with the reality that there are many different types of people who act, behave and belief differently than you, whether it is by their choice or not? Is everyone else suppose to suffer from your stubbornness and ignorance?! You were trying to protect the traditional 'American way of life'? You've not only proven that you have no idea what the 'American way of life' is, you've completely failed in achieving that! All of you here today! What the American way of life was a hundred years ago has little relevance in our time. To survive, we have to change, we have to adapt. We can remember and cherish the past, our history, but history itself has many different interpretations, many different viewpoints and even they will eventually change through time. What a generation may cherish will no longer be desirable for the next generation. That is a fact!"

"What all of this proves is that none you here today are ready to move on, none of you are ready make the necessary changes yourself! So there is no choice but to ask you this; after everything that has happened, which shall you choose? Peace," He asked as he raised his left hand, "or war?!" As he then lowered his left hand and raised his injured right hand. "Virtue," again, he raised his left hand only. "or terror?!" As he raised his injured right hand again.

He lowered his injured arm and looked around, trying to see if anyone wanted to challenge what he just said. As he continued looking around, his vision became blurry and it was becoming harder for him to remain standing. Actually, he was having trouble trying to remain conscious.

Despite some teens looking at others, no one stepped forward, nor raise their hand to do or say anything to the contrary. It didn't take a genius for them to know what Rodrigo meant by 'virtue'; either they themselves attempt to change and adapt to the new circumstances of how the school, the U.S., even the world is now more diverse, integrated, globalized and united, or it will be done for them, through force. Rodrigo had shown everyone just how far he was willing to go to fight against anyone who continues to resist this 'new world order'. After experiencing what he and they themselves were capable of, no one had the stomach to incite an outright war. It was just not worth the human cost.

"That's...what I...thought." He said, before finally collapsing onto the ground, completely exhausted by today's events.

After seeing him collapse, his friends frantically rushed to him.

"Rodrigo!" Arnold called out to him. "Are you ok?"

Rodrigo by this point was starting to wheeze and was gasping for air.

"I...I'm having trouble breathing." He said softly but in a panicking tone.

Arnold and Gerald then lifted him up, put his arms around their shoulders and walked towards the great oak tree.

As he was being dragged, Rodrigo again coughed out more blood.

Once they got there, they gently put him down.

"You're...legacy is secured, Arnold. I made sure of that." Rodrigo softly said to him while still wheezing.

Arnold just ignored his comment and focused on him.

"Just breath normally, Rodrigo Where are you hurting?" Arnold asked him.

"Everywhere..." he said gasping. "My insides are really hurting, especially my torso. My right arm is also hurting. I'm not sure, but I think I may have suffered a collapsed lung cuz I can't breathe properly."

"Yo! Does anybody have any water?!" Gerald franticly out called. A student then threw her bottle of water to Gerald, which he quickly grabbed, opened it and proceeded to give Rodrigo some.

"Here, man." He said to him. "Drink."

Rodrigo drank some water, but ended up spitting out some of it.

"Ah! My stomach! It hurts!" He cried in pain and gasped for more air.

By now Helga was losing her grip and was becoming more and more distraught as she looked on. Whatever anger she had against him was now quickly disappearing. Her face was starting to twitch a bit, struggling with showing her ever increasing concern. The only thing that was now on her mind was his well being.

"It's ok guys," Rodrigo tried to reassure them as he groaned in pain. "I...I just need to rest...I'm just tired."

"No Rodrigo!" Gerald called out as he gently tapped his cheek to keep him awake. "Stay awake, man, the ambulance is on its way."

Everyone else just looked on helplessly and were getting more and more worried by the second as Rodrigo was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. They tried desperately not to get hysterical, for Rodrigo's sake and just hoped that help would get there soon.

Finally, Helga could stand it no longer. Having finally broken her grip, she pushed everyone aside, kneeled down beside Rodrigo, grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her.

"You idiot! What are you thinking?!" She frantically, but tearily yelled at him. "What were you trying to do?! Play the big hero?! Now look at you! You're hurt!"

"Helga," Rodrigo said to her, despite his pain, "I appreciate your concern, but you're not...helping." But Helga was too worried and frantic to listen to him.

"Don't you dare die on me, got it Latino Boy?!" she angrily, but tearfully yelled at him. "You're not leaving us! You and I been through so much crap for you to just leave! You are not dying because of those morons!"

"Helga!" Arnold intervened as he tried to get her to let go of Rodrigo. "I know you're upset, but please calm down, for his sake!"

Despite her anger and frantic worry, Helga realized that she was not helping his situation and slowly released Rodrigo from her grip. Just as she was letting him go, Rodrigo quickly grabbed her hand.

"Helga," Rodrigo said softly but with a groan. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just...I didn't want to get you involved because I didn't want to see you get hurt. Sorry for caring." He then turned around to look at everyone of his friends.

"The same went for all of you. I...I wouldn't not have been able to stand seeing anyone of you get hurt because of me. I'm sorry for that. Helga was right; I was being selfish, and...biased. I should have at least asked for your help. I should have trusted you guys."

Helga said nothing and just held his hand tightly, while wiping away a tear.

***cough**cough*** Rodrigo coughed again, with more blood being spit out.

"I guess…I am now paying the price for that mistake." He said jokingly with a smirk.

"No you're not." Arnold said firmly. "You're going to be alright. Help is on the way. Just hang in there, Rodrigo."

Helga continued to say nothing as more tears started falling down her eyes but reframed from completely breaking down. Apart from the pain in seeing him how badly he was beaten, she was lamenting that one of the very few closest people to her, the one who had helped her so much this year could be…that he might be…. Now, all she could do for him is hold his hand and...pray.

"It's ok guys." Rodrigo assured everyone as his eyes were starting to close. "It'll be ok." as he held onto Helga's hand tight, trying not to let the fear get the best of him.

"Rodrigo," Lila asked softly. "Is there anything that we could do?"

"Just in case if...you know...tell my family that I love them and that I hope I made them proud." He said softly.

"Y-You're going to tell them that yourself, got it Latino boy?" Helga said to him with as much as of her usual toughness as she able to bring, while wiping away a few tears.

"I just hope what I did..."Rodrigo said softly as he continued to gasp for air, "was enough."

"It was more than enough Rodrigo." Arnold assured him with a smile. "You practically saved the school. You put a stop to Caesar and what he was trying to do. You saved lives. You're a hero."

"Then," Rodrigo said softly as he continued to wheeze and gasp for air, "there is nothing to regret..."


	17. Chapter 17 - The Purge

**Six days later...**

Helga looked on attentively at the gardener as he carefully placed each flower onto the hole that he had so carefully dug from the ground. Something about the way he attended the flowers caught Helga's attention and she couldn't help but watch him. He was careful with them, gently taking and placing them, as if they were his own children. He tenderly planted them, even ensuring that none of their leafs and pedals were damaged while he buried its roots. He then watered each and every one of them, ensuring that every flower would get enough. He then opened a few packages and spread them throughout the flower bed, ensuring that all would get the necessary nutrients to grow. Helga could tell that the gardener was enjoying every moment of it. He was smiling throughout. It was not just a job for him, but a way of life. A sincere, genuine way to live out a life; peacefully and happily.

Helga looked on with amazement and wished she could be as happy as he was. But alas, fortune had once again played its dice on Helga's life and determined that it had different plans for her.

Once the gardener was done, he picked up his tools and walked away, whistling and happy with his work. Helga remained there and admired it. For three years she had been going to the same school and not once had she ever noticed the flowers that the gardener would plan every late spring at the front of the school. For three years she had never even noticed just how beautiful and well placed they looked in the flower bed. A signaling of a new start, no doubt. That was the best way Helga could describe things right now, especially after the events that occurred last week.

After admiring at the flowers for a few minutes, she then started casually walking towards the entrance of her school, readying herself for another mundane day. Yet, as she entered the building, she couldn't help but feel that something was not right. The entire building felt bigger than usual, if not...empty.

She knew why she felt this way though. It was because of Rodrigo; he wasn't there and it made the school that much more lonesome to be in. It had been only six days since the battle at the park, but it already felt it had been almost a lifetime ago. It had been hard for her in not having the Latino kid around. She had been used to seeing him practically every day that it had become a normal thing. Now during those six days, she had to get used to not seeing him every morning, not eating together during lunchtime and not seeing him during his favorite class; history. In a way, not having him around created the eerie and lonesome feeling that she used to have before they met, a sensation and memory that she trying to resist from them ever influencing her again.

_Perhaps I should visit him today._ She thought as she walked inside. _I should bring him some flowers. I think he would like that._

That's what she decided she was going to do. She would go to Ms. Vitelli's flower shop right after school and get some flowers for him. Then, she would have to use all of her strength to go and see where he lied...

**One day later...**

It was now lunchtime and everyone started heading towards their usual spot to eat and converse. A lot had changed since the battle and when the Mitigators exposed who was behind the rumours, blackmailing and hate slanders going around the school for months. Students attempted to get on with their lives, but everyone knew that things cannot go back to the way they were before. That shipped had sailed and they now had to adapt to their circumstances.

Upon entering the lunchroom, it doesn't take a genius to realize that something must have happened in that school, as most of the students that there were, in some ways or form, injured. While some had simple bandages or stitches, others had casts on their arms, hands or legs. Some were even wheelchair bound. Unless you were there seven days ago, or were informed by others, you would think that a simple riot must have happened, or a serious fight that a lot of students stupidly got involved.

Helga and the rest of the gang made it to their usual lunch table and sat down to eat. Despite the various injured students, the lunchroom was still bustling with activity and noise, but at the same time, one could tell that it was unusually quiet.

Not a minute had past when another student walked into the lunchtime, somewhat limping with a crutch on one hand, and his right arm wrapped up with an elastic hand around his neck to support it. Walking as quickly, but as carefully as possible, the student made his way towards Helga's table. Finally, he arrived and sat down.

"Hey guys." Said the teen.

"Hey Rodrigo!" Gerald exclaimed happily. "Welcome back!"

"Thanks." he responded back with a smile.

Everyone else then came happily came forward to greet him. All the guys gave him a handshake and a gentle slap on his back, while the girls all gave him a hug.

Helga said nothing, not getting up from her seat and just smiled at him, happy to finally see him back and recovering well. She didn't need to welcome back. She was there the whole time he was at the hospital, including on his last day.

**Seven days earlier…**

Not long after Rodrigo made his political discourse speech, sirens could be heard from a distance. After a few more minutes, the police and paramedics arrived at the park and were stunned at the sheer number of students that had gathered around that section of the park. The paramedics quickly realized that many students needed medical care and quickly made their way to them. The police for their part, attempted to calmly find out what happened and started interviewing the students.

Needless to say, everyone more or less cooperated with the authorities. Seeing as how they were now cornered, even those from Caesar's group began to cooperate. Those that did not simply refused to answer any of their questions, Caesar among them, but made no physical resistance against the police.

Once it became clear to the authorities who was responsible for instigating this mass movement, they quickly arrested Roger and El, who were by this point in tears, along with Caesar and others. The Mitigators, although warned by the police to never take the laws into their own hands again, were spared from getting arrested…for now.

One of the paramedics who was attending an injured teen suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw a strange teen.

"Hey, what's a gifted genius got to do to get a blanked around here?" Curly asked. "It's um...a bit cold."

The paramedic at first said nothing and stared at the teen with perplexed and confused look, who was only dressed in a loincloth and wondered why the hell he was dressed like that.

_Oh ya, he must be 'gifted' alright._ The paramedic thought.

Finally, she snapped out of her stare and then gave Curly a blanket to cover himself with.

Rodrigo was one the first teens that the paramedics attended to and they soon put him on a stretcher and led him into an ambulance. He spent a week at the hospital recovering. Doctors confirmed that his injuries were indeed serious, but not life-threatening, although the doctor did confirm that he suffered a collapse lung due to the amount of blunt force trauma that he experienced during his fight. They expected him to make a full recover, but it will take some time. He also had to initially eat light meals in order for his stomach to heal itself.

Helga was also quickly attended to and although the paramedics stated that she was not currently suffering any symptoms of concussion, they nevertheless advised her to go to the hospital to get her head checked out. That suited Helga just fine, as she was going to go with Rodrigo to the hospital anyways. She jumped on the ambulance that he was in and went.

Arnold and Gerald, despite being in the thick of the action, only suffered minor cuts and bruises on their faces and legs, although Arnold suffered a nose bleed. Their clothes were either dirty or a bit torn, but otherwise, completely unscathed.

Harold, Stinky and Sid also sustained a some cuts on their arms and faces. They also sustained some bruises on their bodies from the amount of people they had to tackle, but were otherwise ok.

Lorenzo, Peapod Kid, Park and Eugene sustained some bruises on their faces, as well as their clothes being more dirty and torn, as they were trying to create a leeway for Rodrigo, Helga, Gerald and Arnold to get to Caesar, so they were in the centre of the action. Despite never having deep the aggressive types, they surprised everyone by how well they succeeded in their task.

Rhonda emerged from the battle with bruises and cuts on some of her arms and legs. To the surprise of many and much to her anger, her clothes were dirty and torn, but other than that was ok.

Patty was a bit hurt from the blows that she suffered from Caesar's elbows, but was other unscathed. Phoebe and Nadine, Lila and Sheena were one of the few that came out of this completely unhurt. Other than their clothes being a bit dirty, they sustained no injuries whatsoever.

Gino unfortunately got more hurt than the rest of the gang, so much so that his crew had to help him up and get him home. Nevertheless, he proudly stated that these bruises were a 'badge of honor' for being on the right side this time.

Brainy also suffered some bruises, along with his glasses ended up getting broken. Not that it mattered to him. The amount of times that Helga ended up breaking his glasses when they were younger, even he lost count. This only brought him nostalgic feelings about it.

During his stay at the hospital, his friends popped by a few times to visit him. Helga visited him almost every day and just like before, showed her nurturing side and helped Rodrigo with anything that he needed, whether it was getting something to eat, or helping him go to the bathroom. Rodrigo for his part, although never liking to being babied, made no effort to discourage Helga from helping him, mostly for her sake. Besides, it made things easier for him.

Arnold and Cecile also visited him but they were only able to stay in Hillwood for a few days. Rodrigo had asked to see them privately before they left. When they arrived, Rodrigo explained to them the reasons why he pressed the button. Although he will eventually tell their friends, he wanted Arnold and Cecile to know it first. Arnold left the hospital that day feeling conflicted. Although he felt Rodrigo's reasons were justifiable, and he even agreed on some of his points, he nevertheless could not help but feel this whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth, as he still felt the cost outweighed the benefits. Cecile felt the same way.

Arnold only explained to him his reasons for wanting to forgive them, but made no attempt to debate with Rodrigo, as there was no point. What had been done had already been done.

Cecile spent her few days in Hillwood hanging out with Arnold and his friends. Delighted in having to finally meet them, despite the battle and what transpired, she nevertheless felt glad to have made the trip and enjoyed her time in the city. Although, she would had some serious explanation to do to her parents as to how or why she flew to the U.S. on such short notice.

Arnold never revealed to Cecile or anyone else about that awkward incident on Valentine's Day, much to Helga's relief. Helga at some point in time did end up telling Rodrigo about the Valentine's Day incident, which the Latino kid merely thought that it was very cute; creepy, but still relatively cute.

During Rodrigo's stay in the hospital, the police immediately began their investigation and based on the footage that was released on the internet, they charged Caesar, Roger and El with various charges. Caesar especially, as the unofficial leader, was even being charged with domestic terrorism, a charge that his lawyer was frantically trying to argue against. However, Caesar's attitude didn't really help his case. He remained unapologetic for what he did and even boasted that even though he failed, there will be others that will take his place and continue the struggle.

Roger and El were a bit more cooperative. They struck a deal with the police to give them more information about the movement and divulged names of others who were involved. Needless to say, what both teens revealed surprised the police.

The movement ran deeper than anyone had originally thought. It not only did it involve students, but also teachers and some members of the school board. This explained why many students were able to skip third period class and meet up with Caesar at the park without being detected. Some of the teachers were sympathetic, if not directly affiliated with Caesar and thus, did not inform neither the Principal, the parents, nor anyone about those students' absences. And just like Roger and El, the teachers preferred to work on the sidelines in order to ensure that they would not be discovered.

Upon learning this, the police decided to involve the FBI, to which the Bureau sent a few agents to the high school to help the local authorities with their investigation. Their arrival not just helped with the investigation; it ended up working too well.

Many of the students who were called to go to the police station, upon seeing an FBI agent in the interview room, before even sitting down, immediately broke down and began to 'confess'.

While a lot of the confessions that the authorities received were accurate and valid, it soon became clear to the them that some of these 'confessions' were exaggerated or simply not true. In order to strike a deal with the FBI or simply to get out of trouble, many of the students interviewed implicated other students or teachers that had nothing to do with Caesar and his organization.

Those that were implicated merely via 'confessions' had vehemently argued against them and tried to present as much evidence as possible in order to save their reputation. The authorities soon placed amble care on these confessions and ensured that unless they gathered sufficient evidence, they would not even create the suspicion that some of these students and teachers were in any way involved. Nevertheless, the damage of these 'confessions' starting being felt throughout the school.

Needless to say, the constant 'visits' by either a police officer or an FBI agent into the school to speak with an individual, even if there were no plans to arrest him or her, created an aurora of fear and paranoia throughout the building, with both students and teachers afraid that they might next be 'called' into the Principal's office; afraid that they might be next. One student that was called in by the Principal became so frightened that she ended up fainting after only taking a few steps. Many teachers lost a lot of sleep over this, fearing for their careers and livelihoods, not to mention the distress of finding out that their friends/colleagues were affiliated with Caesar.

All in all, the authorities discovered that a little more than a quarter of all the students, teachers and school administrators were either directly or indirectly affiliated with Caesar's group. The result was swift. Some students were immediately expelled, while others were suspended for a given time or forced to sign a legal form, promising to not get involved in any more extremist organizations or ideology while they attended Hillwood High. Teachers and school administrators that were directly involved with Caesar and his organization were immediately terminated from their positions, while those who were indirectly involved were either transferred to other high schools throughout Hillwood, or suspended for a definite period, unpaid.

Students and teachers alike began to call moment, The Purge.

Students that were expelled as a direct result of their involvement with Caesar, some of them were in the twelve grade and were only mere weeks away from graduating, only having to write their final exams. Now, due to their expulsion, the school refused to allow them to continue their education, even to just write their exams, promptings them to either submit a complain to the school board, or face the harsh reality that they now had to repeat the twelve grade, at another high school.

Despite the authorities' best efforts, many students and teachers became 'collateral damage' from this Purge. While many students and teachers did get what many felt they deserved, casualties from innocent bystanders were created, both students and teachers alike. Even when confirmed by the police and FBI that those deemed suspects were in fact completely innocent, it became difficult to trust them again. This only served to aggravate the already high tension and fear circulating the school.

Roger and El fared the worst. Once the footage exposed them, they were immediately expelled from Hillwood High and instantly became pariahs, with their families even receiving death threats. Some of their friends, even those who shared in their racist and homophobic views, instantly distanced themselves from them. While incarcerated, El was beaten up by a group of black inmates in retaliation, prompting the authorities to isolate him from the rest in order to secure his life. Roger, seeing no sense of hope of ever having a future, attempted suicide while incarcerated, but was saved by an officer who just managed to appear in time to save him. He was also moved for a more secure cell.

As Rodrigo predicted, the media showed neither teen any mercy and portrayed them as 'fanatical followers of Hitler', with their picture shown in every media news. The country now knew of them and would promptly shut its doors on their face.

Both Roger and El came from loving and financially well of families. They were not rich like the Lloyds, but could be considered to be on par with the Patakis, minus the loving family part. Although considering themselves to be somewhat socially conservatives, their families have never really been deeply involved into politics and had never indoctrinated their sons in any way that would espouse to be racist, or homophobic in their teenage life. Ironically, in order to protect them from the rise of ethnic/racial tensions and violence, as well as homophobia predominating in the U.S., the families moved to a upper class neighborhood where there was stability, peace, with various programs and recreational activities for kids and teenagers, as well the opportunity to affiliate themselves with other 'like minded' families. It just so happened that the vast majority of those 'like minded' inhabitants were White, with neighborhood having a reputation of being very conservative, as well as mentally and physically isolated from the surrounding areas. Such factors the families either ignored or felt they would not hinder the upbringing of their sons.

**Back in the present...**

Rodrigo gently sat down to eat a container of soup that his mother had prepared for him and slowly began to drank it. He was not yet allowed to eat solid food that required his stomach to work harder in order to digest it.

"How's it feel being out?" Sid asked him, while he ate.

"It feels good." He responded back. "The hospital can be a seriously depressing place to be in, although after a few days, I kind of used to it."

"Well it's good to have you back, Rodrigo." Rhonda said to him with a smile as he touched his shoulder.

"Thanks Rhonda." He responded back with his own smile.

"So I take it you won't be able to play sports with us for some time?" Gerald asked.

"No and I won't be able to dance for a while either, which sucks." Rodrigo responded back. "I guess I'll just stick with reading a good book. I got Fyodor Dostoyevsky's _Crime and Punishment_, as per Helga's recommendation, to read, so I guess it's not so bad."

"Which reminds me, did Arnold make it back to San Lorenzo ok?" He continued.

"Ya. He called me, confirming that he made it back safely." Gerald responded.

"Not that I didn't appreciate Arnold coming all the way back here to help us out, especially me, but how in the hell did he manage to come and visit us twice in three months but he wasn't able to do that for more than two years previously, not counting him not wanting to leave his parents?"

Rhonda, while she continued to text away, simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's a mystery to us as well. We never got a chance to ask him while he was here. I guess we'll never find out."

Unbeknownst to anyone, when Eugene informed Rhonda about what happening, she immediately decided to get Arnold to come home and help out. To do that, she secretly paid for his plan ticket. Although she had previously offered to do that in order to get him to come and visit, Arnold had always refused. However this time, this was an offer that he couldn't refuse. His friends, including Rodrigo needed help and he felt he needed to be there. Hence, he accepted Rhonda's offer, but only on the condition that he would eventually pay her back. Rhonda countered that telling him that by getting him to come home and help them out, he was already paying his debt.

Rodrigo and Helga though, got a bit suspicious when Rhonda said that, wondering if perhaps she had anything to do with it, but both decided not to ponder about it.

Suddenly,

***Thub***

A teen kicked the entrance door of the lunchroom and quickly made his way towards the table where Gerald, Helga and Rodrigo were sitting.

"The funnnn hassss arrriivvveeed!" The teen said to the group as he approached them.

"Hey good-looking, how ya doing? Patrick, they finally kicked out of the academy?" He said with a big smile as he continued to walk into the lunchroom

"Hiya everyone! Miss me?" He asked with a big smile on his face when he approached the gang's table.

"Curly?" Gerald asked surprisingly. "What are you doing here?"

"The psychic ward let you out?" Helga remarked.

Rhonda simply groaned and slapped her face with hand in utter annoyance.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your charm, Helga." Curly began to say. "But no, I decided, against my nature, to skip a class and come here and welcome Rodrigo back." He then turned to Rhonda and with big, almost creepy like smile, said to her, "Missed me sugar?"

"Not by a long shot." She retorted back.

Curly ignored her comment and simply grabbed an empty chair from another table and sat down.

"How are you feeling Rod?" He asked the Latino.

"Still alive. I'm just stuck in having to eat soup for a while, but I'll live. Thanks for dropping by and welcoming me back." He responded

"Oh it was my pleasure." Curly with happily.

"Oh and thank you," Rodrigo continued, but now sarcastically, "for letting me get pummeled by those three stooges while you just hid in the tree. Where the heck did you go?! You could have at least called for help."

"Hey, I did call for help!" Curly began to snap back, almost angrily, but then he calmed down, slid back into his chair and continued. "I messaged Eugene and told him to get his butt over there pronto. Besides, just because you decided to take the suicidal/martydom route doesn't mean that I should. You did say that you work alone and you didn't want anyone to interfere in the fight, so unlike clumsy olf over there, I adhered to your instructions, good sir."

"Ugh, smartass." As all Rodrigo said back.

Curly said nothing and simply smiled, triumphant in his 'victory'.

"Anyhoo," Rodrigo said. "I've never got a chance to ask you Eugene, how you and everyone else managed to escape that old computer lab before Caesar's goons broke in."

"Well, we almost got caught," Eugene began to explain. "but Peapod Kid saw the ventilating system and noticed that there was a broken hole that led into it. We quickly grabbed whatever we can find to build a kind of ladder and climbed up into it."

"Ugh!" Exclaimed Rhonda as she shivered as her mind raced back towards those awful memories. "Don't remind me! That ventilating system was disgustingly dirty and dusty. I'm surprised we didn't find any rats while in there! I ended up getting my new pants dirty as a result!"

"Anyways," Park interjected. "we climbed up into the ventilating system and crawled our way out of the room. It was just in the nick of time, because Caesar's goons finally broke into the room. We didn't really stay and watch them to see what they were going to do. We just continued heading towards the exit. Well, any exit. It didn't take us long, but we finally managed to get out of the ventilating system and into the hallway and then rendezvoused with everyone else."

"I'm just glad you guys managed to get out on time." Said Rodrigo. "When Caesar told me that he found out our HQ, I freaked out.

"Well," Gerald said. "given what they and everyone else here had to go through, I believe you owe us an explanation, if not an apology, Rodrigo."

"About what?" He asked.

"About having the guts in excluding the rest of us into your plan on how to deal with Caesar." He responded back rather seriously. "Eugene told us the reasons that you gave him, but something tells me that wasn't all."

Rodrigo simply lifted his injured right arm and showed his crutch and asked, "isn't this enough of an apology?"

"No, it's not Rodrigo." Helga shot back while frowning at him. "You didn't trust us. Why?"

Rodrigo just sighed and looked down, almost shamefully. Almost. But then after a few moments, he began to explain himself...

* * *

**Syke! You guys thought I was going to kill off Rodrigo? Nope! I have plans with this Latino kid in other stories.**

**Just a few responses to come reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt: That is exactly what I was going for; the mix emotions. Rodrigo offers something that has become somewhat alien in the Western world; a sense of community and knowing that your actions can impact others, even thousands of miles away (e.g. the market for smart phones impacts the environment and people in the Congo who have to dig up the precious metals that make up that smart phone). Like Helga, Rodrigo can be very direct and harsh with the realities of life.**

**Ya, I didn't want to go so deep on the scientific, sociological and philosophical areas of human nature, mostly because I don't want to go on and on about it and I don't know how the readers will take it that this story is becoming more of a lecture than a story. I don't mind it, but I try to avoid it so as not to lose the reader lol.**

**Rodrigo is that figure that would emerge when someone like Caesar emerges, kind of like a ying yang. Rodrigo is fully aware that his actions are temporary and unless everyone else keeps up the slack, there is little that he could do to stem this tide. I wouldn't say that his high sense of morality is a sense of weakness, but it does come at a cost. He becomes isolated and lonely because people are either afraid of him or are scared of his views. Very few people would still want to be close to him or have anything to do. But unlike with Helga, Rodrigo fully accepts that since it was his choice to do these things, so he doesn't complain about it, but it does depress him and it will have cause his friendship with the gang to sour a bit.**

**Yes, I agree with you that Arnold, Gerald, Helga, Phoebe and Rodrigo can balance each other out. Each brings to the table their own unique experience and know-how. If they all work together, they can do wonders. Rodrigo especially can be good in providing that balance because unlike the rest of the characters, he is very flexible. In some situations, he can agree with Arnold, while in others he can support Gerald, or in others Phoebe or Helga. He is not trying to play one against the other. He understands that different situations require different viewpoints and different solutions and even different types of moralities. Arnold is not that flexible because he usually sticks to what is right and good and remains optimistic. Even if he decides to support something that is a bit too radical, it's a hard pill to swallow for him. But having a sense of optimism can have its limitations. Sometimes cynicism or just down right anger is good, if not required, so long as it doesn't go too far. for example, cynicism is not completely being convinced by something. A cynic will remain aloof and not completely buy into a rhetoric or an ideology. Helga is known to be stubborn like that, which I find it intriguing because she is careful not to just dive into any viewpoints without at least thinking about it first; a trait that Rodrigo likes and admires about her.**

**Ya, I might decide to just kill Rodrigo off right here and then. After all, these type of rapid social changes, as in any other revolution, needs its martyrs. And OMG yes, I was actually going to use the same reference with Dinbot's death in the Beast Wars. I even wrote Dinobot's Shakesperean's speech before his death and have Rodrigo say it at the end of this chapter, but I decided to take it out because I thought it too corny and also not enough creativity from my end.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Forgivness must be Earned

"My reasons for not including you Gerald, and you Helga, and you Phoebe, were just as what Eugene said to you. But my reasons as to why I didn't want to include these four people," he said as he pointed at Patty, Harold, Stinky and Sid, "were because of their past actions. These four got suckered into Ludwig's ideas of grandeur and superiority and joined his side. I was afraid that if they were exposed to Caesar's influence that they might….find his ideas appealing as well. So I thought best not to include any of you. Had I included you three," as he pointed to Gerald, Phoebe and Helga, "you never would have accepted this decision."

"Aww, what a sweet guy." Curly joked.

"You damn it right we wouldn't have accepted it!" Helga angrily shot back as she got up and punched the table with her fists. "Who the hell are you to not only make the decision to exclude the very people that made the Mitigators happen, but to judge others for their past actions?!"

Although startled by Helga's sudden aggression, Rodrigo remained unfazed and calmly stood still.

"That's right, Rodrigo!" Harold exclaimed angrily at him. "That's very low of you to not include us! We realized for our mistake and left Ludwig before we hurt anyone. Sid and Stinky even willingly threw themselves into a trashcan full of garbage just to prove it. We joined Arnold again because he was right. We just…kind of lost of our way, but we eventually found the right path again."

Patty, Stinky and Sid all nodded in agreement.

_I sense a disturbance in the force. How droll!_ Curly thought excitedly.

Patty was especially angry at Rodrigo for having a poor sense of understanding as to why she and Harold at least, initially joined Ludwig. She thought that out of everyone, he would have understood them and thus, sympathize with them.

"Who are you to judge us for what we did five years ago?" Patty exclaimed angrily.

"The person that didn't get suckered into any false sense of superiority rhetoric." Was Rodrigo's Laconic reply.

"Listen you," Patty snarled, as she got up and leaned closer to Rodrigo as he calmly continued to eat his soup, "you don't know us or what we went through so don't come here acting like you are better than us."

"I'm not better than you." He responded back. "But I do know exactly what you went through as a kid, maybe even more. I DO know what's it's like to be on the receiving end of hate, of all that contempt, of being told repeatedly that you don't belong here, that you're not good enough to live here because of something about yourself that you can't change! Really? Is there really any difference between how people felt about you when they saw you stomping down the hallways and how some people felt about me? Isn't there hate, fear and repulsiveness in both our stories? I think it is you that shouldn't talk Patty because at the very least, you could change the way people saw you; as a bully. I can't! So as for what you went through, that's a poor excuse of trying to justify why you were mesmerized by Ludwig's speech." Rodrigo replied unsympathetically.

"It's an excuse that only weaklings make." He remarked.

Reeling in being easily beaten by Rodrigo's logic, but also calling her a weakling, Patty finally lost it. She suddenly attempted to get closer to Rodrigo to take a good swing at him, but Harold quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and attempted to restrain her.

"Whoa, Patty calm down! Let Rodrigo explain himself at least."

"I'm done listening to him." She said angrily, as she tried to set herself free from Harold. "I'm regretting of even saving him from Caesar."

"Not as much as I regret in not asking for your help." Rodrigo calmly said.

"Of course you regret it! You got beat up by him." Said Patty as she angrily continued to wrestle from Harold's grasp.

"No. I regret in not asking for your help because I was completely wrong you; all of you." Rodrigo continued.

That got everyone's attention, including Patty, who stopped struggling and looked at him with a surprised look, although she was still livid by his last remark.

"And... because I was scared." He softly said.

"Huh? What do you mean" Harold asked.

"Ya, explain." Patty demanded. "What were you scared of? That we would have betrayed you and taken you to Caesar while being tied up?"

"I was scared of losing my friends." He said rather sadly.

That statement finally made Patty ease up, as well as decrease some of the anger that she and rest the gang were experiencing towards the Latino kid.

"I forgave you for what happened five years ago, because you took responsibility for your actions and switched sides; the right side." He began to explain. "But I was not going to forgive you if you sided with Caesar and supported what he stood for. Even if you later realized how wrong you were, I was not going to forgive you a second time. There was no way that I was going to forgive either of you if you joined a group that explicitly shows its contempt towards me and thinks of me as inferior and not worthy of living in this country. Had any of you joined him, I would have terminated my friendship with all four of you, permanently."

"I didn't want that to happen." Rodrigo continued, clearly looking bothered by the thought of having to end his friendship with them. He anxiously kept fidgeting with his hands. "I didn't want to lose you guys as my friends. I got…scared. So I did what I thought was the best option and ensured you four didn't get involved. Plus, as Eugene probably told you, I didn't want any of you to get hurt."

The gang went silent as Rodrigo revealed this new piece of information. It was completely the opposite from what they were expecting him to say. They thought his reasons were more...selfish in nature and not based on fear from what he would be capable of.

Even Patty started feeling some sympathy towards the Latino kid and finally managed to calm down enough to sit back down, albeit with some reluctance and while still frowning at him.

Although feeling a bit sympathetic, Sid was still not completely convinced.

"But Rodrigo, that's still no excuse for excluding most of us from the group, the same people that made the Mitigators happen. I mean, who died and made you king, or in this case, the moral enforcer of this group?" Sid retorted.

"Who died and made Arnold king, or in this case, the moral enforcer of this group?" Rodrigo calmly rephrased Sid's question, which took everyone by surprise and made them go silent again.

_Oooohh, this guy is good. Better be careful with him._ Thought Curly.

"Do you really think that there is any difference between what Arnold did when he was still here and what I did?" He asked.

"But Rodrigo, Arnold trusted us to do the right thing." Phoebe countered.

"No, he didn't." Rodrigo countered back. "At least, that's I originally thought. I thought that Arnold always felt compelled to give advice and offer his help to all of you, even if you never asked him for it, not just because he was a good kid who always wanted to help out. That was part of it. But the other part that is usually omitted is that you guys kept 'falling off the wagon' as it were, so often that he had no choice but to be that wise and moral leader that everyone didn't want him to be. I thought you guys needed him. That became obvious to me five years ago when Curly started questioning Arnold's moral and leadership role of the group and of the sixth grade in general inside that gym locker-room, you guys as a group fell apart and splintered. It wasn't Curly that did that to you, but yourselves."

"Phew! Glad we finally cleared that up." Curly commented.

"Even now, despite him not being here, he still influences all of you." He continued. "You guys still constantly think about what Arnold would have done in this or in that situation. Also, it wasn't a coincidence that when I joined this group, you guys started comparing me with him. Him and I are similar, but NOT the same. The difference between us is that unlike him, I make sure that people pay for their mistakes."

"I'm sorry if this sounds harsh," Rodrigo continued, "but you guys asked what my reasons were, so I'm giving them to you. So I'm sorry if I didn't trust you four to include you, but without a strong moral fiber that I thought you guys didn't have, I couldn't take the risk. The same goes for the rest of the students in this school."

"But clearly you were wrong." Stinky pointed out with his arms crossed. "When Eugene told us what you were going to do, he showed us the footage of Caesar, Roger and El. When we saw it, there was no question on our minds on what we needed to do. What Caesar was doing was wrong and we never had any intention on siding with him, right fellars?"

Everyone else nodded.

"It's true that Arnold has played a big influence over us." Patty interjected. Finally calming down to talk. "But what Caesar was doing was just not acceptable. Harold and I were discussing this during those two months and we were both disgusted over what was happening at our school. We didn't need Arnold to figure that out. True, we may have somewhat needed him when we were younger, but not now. We've matured a lot since then and with Arnold gone, we had no choice but to mature, even if we didn't want to; a fact that you clearly missed."

"I know. I see that now. I was wrong." Rodrigo admitted calmly but shamefully. "I am sorry for doubting all of you. I should have trusted you to make the right decisions, but I let my seriously high expectations blind me and as a result, I paid for my mistake." He continued as he pointed to his injuries.

"Furthermore," Phoebe added, "it is quite hypocritical of you Rodrigo to criticize us for being strongly influenced by Arnold when you yourself are influenced by past great thinkers. As social creatures, everyone is influenced by everyone else, whether from the present or past."

"Actually," she continued with a stern face, "I could go further and say isn't it better to be influenced by someone that lives in the present and is alive? Most of the people who influenced you Rodrigo are from the past and most of them dead."

"Yup, that's true." Rodrigo admitted while chucking a bit. "I have nothing to defend myself against that."

"So, does that mean we should forgive you?" Helga asked with her arms crossed.

"That's up to you." Rodrigo calmly responded back. "Do you?"

"We haven't really gotten that far yet." Gerald responded back casually. "In the meantime, there is also the matter of why you pressed that button. You told Arnold your reasons before he left, and after what has been happening to everyone in this school, I think we deserve the right to know why you chose to do that."

Rodrigo at first said nothing and simply continued to drink his soup calmly. After taking a few scoops, he put his spoon, down, wiped his mouth, looked up at everyone who clearly all looking at him, waiting for him to talk.

"It was as I said back at the park;" he began to explain. "Arnold wanted to forgive them. He wanted to give them that necessary 'social' space in order for them to not only realize that their behavior and attitude were bogus, but to start the process of making amends to everyone without continuingly judging them. I happen to agree with that and I would have done it, except for one thing. Forgiveness must be earned and they haven't yet earned it."

"Explain." Helga bluntly said to him.

"When a person asks for forgiveness, assuming they are not lying, it is usually because they not only feel guilt and remorse for what they have done, but just as importantly, they reached such a low point in their lives that it is causing them insurmountable pain. They are suffering from their past actions. Up until I pressed that button, Caesar, Roger and El haven't reached their lowest point."

"I can give you three examples." Rodrigo continued, with a smile. "Ludwig and Curly."

"Ooohh you're about to psychoanalyze me." Curly commented with a grin. "Please continue. Let's see if you are better than my therapist."

"Both reached their lowest point on Gerald's field five years ago." Rodrigo began. "Ludwig had only just been released from juvenile prison. I don't know if he went to school or not, but even if he did, I doubt he would have been passing. Either way, Ludwig wasn't stupid. He knew that his prospects in having a successful life were slim. Then, he attempted to reinstitute Trashcan Day, for reasons God only knows, only for him to not only fail miserably, but ended up being thrown into a trashcan as a final, ironic, and humiliating act that was his life. "

"With you Curly, your lowest point was also on that day. You initially joined Ludwig in order to get the power and the respect that you desperately craved; what every kid craves really. You thought you could achieve it via Ludwig and you even saw potential in 'toughing up' the lower graders, teaching them how the real world works, in the same way as how you were just thrown into it. But slowly, you started wrestling with your conscience, thinking that perhaps, although not wanting to admit it, Arnold was right; this was not the right way to go. But the final blow came from Ludwig himself, the person whom you thought would not only grant you the power and respect that you thought you deserve, but whom you thought in some ways, respected you, when in fact he didn't, just grabbed you and threw you into the trashcan. So not only did you finally realize that it was all a lie, at you were wrong."

"Hmmm, interesting." Curly said seriously, trying not to let the memories affect him. Indeed, siding with Ludwig was not his finest hour and he wasn't exaggerating when he said back at the park that he was doing all of this to redeem himself. Ever since that day, he had been lamenting himself over his foolishness and was yearning to lift the burden of guilt that he was carrying for five years.

"For both of you, that was your lowest point." Rodrigo continued. "Ludwig failed to achieve anything in his life, while you failed in getting the respect you deserved. You both had nothing left to give, nothing left to believe in. You were in a way, at a void, or at a crossroads, where there was only two choices; death/suicide or redemption. It was at that point, where you now experienced the backdrop of your own actions. The pain, the misery that you were initially about to inflict on others, now you were experiencing it. That was when you were now able to start crawling out of the filth that you found yourself in, and into the clear, refreshing air of humanity. That was when you and Ludwig deserved to be forgiven."

The entire group fell silent at what Rodrigo had just said. Even Curly was taken aback and was unable to really respond to him, except this,

"Wow. I should fire my therapist. Do you take clients?" He asked with a grin.

"No." Rodrigo responded. "I'm not really the type of person that should provide psychological advise."

"You are exactly the type of person that needs to provide psychological advise." Curly countered.

"Wait, you go to therapy?" Rodrigo asked.

"No, but if I did, I would have fired him, but we can discuss that later." Curly answered.

"Indeed." Helga interjected. "And your third example?"

"You." Rodrigo responded back.

Helga looked at him with a suspicious look on her face and wondered where he was going with this.

"I don't think it needs to be said when your lowest point was." He continued.

"No, it needs to be said." She challenged him. "When was my lowest point, Rodrigo?"

Rodrigo looked at her with a bit of a surprised look on his face. He didn't think she would actually want to divulge such a still-yet sensitive issue in front of everyone. But nevertheless, he heeded to her request.

"It was when Arnold broke up with you and left." He responded back. "When he left, everything that you fought for, everything that you thought you finally had, it was all taken away. From an emotional and psychological viewpoint, for more than two years, you felt you had nothing. It was already bad enough what you were going through at home, but for Arnold to end things with you and leave, that was it. That's what finally broke you. You truly hit rock-bottom. And just like with Ludwig and Curly, your only option was to get out of that hole that you found yourself in."

"That's why, when you finally confessed to everyone about you and Arnold in March, and how much it affected you, revealing to everyone what you really went through, that was when, despite all your past transgressions, you finally earned the right to be forgiven. Gerald saw that, as did everyone else on that day and that's why he was able to finally put all of the past animosities behind him."

Helga and everyone else said nothing and just took it all in. Helga especially was being completely quiet, as she felt a bit unnerved by what Rodrigo said. Indeed, for almost three years, she carried the weight of that void she felt when Arnold left. It was only after finally 'confessing' to everyone, in the same way as a person would confess to a priest, that she felt a huge burden was finally lifted from her shoulders. It was on that day when she and everyone else felt they could finally let the past go and move on. But what was troubling Helga a bit was the knowledge that had it not been for Rodrigo, she never would have been able to move on. For more than two years, she tried to do it herself, pushing any help or advice from others, but to avail. Only with Rodrigo coming into their lives and him pushing her and their friends to realize their mistakes, their bias and prejudice towards each other, was she and everyone else able to re-cement their friendship and allow the healing to begin.

Curly for his part, had no idea what Rodrigo was talking about, but didn't care enough to question about it, especially since it involved Helga.

"And what about Roger, Caesar and El?" Gerald asked, after a long silence.

"They haven't reached their lowest point." Rodrigo responded back. "Up until now, they haven't earned the right to be forgiven, nor will I allow anyone to forgive them. Once they have gone through the process of suffering and endurance for their past actions, only then will they have earned the right to be forgiven. As I told them at the park, they were not willing to change because they realized their wrongdoings, but only to save their own skins. They didn't see the pain, the suffering, the amount of social destructions that they inflicted on others all because they were unwilling to change their own outdated and disgusting viewpoints. No, they will not be forgiven until they also go through their own hell."

"That also includes everyone else who supported them." Rodrigo continued. "No one will, nor should, be spared."

"What about your friends?" Eugene asked. "Like Pablo. Have you spoken to him yet? He was looking for you."

"Ya, I saw him this morning." Rodrigo casually responded back.

"Did you guys bury the hatchet?" Eugene asked.

"No." He responded. "I told him to get lost."

When Rodrigo came to school that morning, he arrived early in order to get to class on time. Along the way, Pablo approached him, much to his surprise and chagrin. Pablo attempted to apologize to Rodrigo for ever siding with Caesar. He explained to him that after everything that has happened, he used the week to think long and hard about what he was doing and realized just how foolish he was and he hoped to make amends. He then extended his hand in friendship. Rodrigo however, simply gave him a cold stare and refused to shake his hand. He bluntly told him that he only saw the error of his ways and is sorry because he lost. Had he won, he would not have been apologetic. Furthermore, and on a more personal note, Rodrigo reminded Pablo that while he was being pummeled by Caesar, Roger and El, he just stood by and did nothing. If anything, he tried to attack him when Rodrigo was trying to get to Caesar during the battle. Hence, he is nowhere near in making amends with him and had no interest in being friends with him again and warned him never to approach him again. After that, Rodrigo simply walked away.

The gang was not really surprised by Rodrigo's response. They themselves were skeptical if Rodrigo should forgive Pablo, after what he did. Yet nonetheless, it bothered them seeing just how unforgiving Rodrigo can be. If anything, they felt that with the purge going on in their school, forgiveness and reconciliation should take precedent in order to heal all wounds.

Helga was especially bothered by this, as she did not really understand how Rodrigo can be so patient, understanding and even forgiving with her and others in some instances, but can be the exact opposite in others. She felt that when it involved many people, he should be mroe forgiving than with just a few individuals, even if it was her.

"How can you be so unforgiving to so many people, but can be forgiving to an individual? Why were you so understanding with me?" She asked him. "Shouldn't it be the opposite?"

"You make it sound that I don't ever forgive people." He responded back to her. "I'm not an unforgiving person. I can forgive people without any problem, but this is something way bigger to be able to just forgive and forget. A lesson needs to be learned here."

"But, to answer your question, no." He continued. "First off, forgiveness should not favor anyone. It has to be unbiased, otherwise it would not work. Whether as an individual, or as a group, each person has to go through his or her own trial of hell before they can be forgiven. So don't make the mistake that just because I was understanding and patient with you does not mean that I don't think you should not have gone through your own version of hell. The only reason why I was patient and understanding with you was because I knew, from almost the very beginning when I met you ,that you were going through something very tough and painful. At that time, I didn't know what it was, but I could tell. It was obvious. You looked so...angry and sad that it was obvious that something was deeply hurting you. As time went time and I got to know more of you, I realized that yes, you were going through own trial."

"Roger, El and Caesar have never gone through that." He continued. "If anything, they, just like you, had an opportunity to change their ways. With you, it was when Arnold was here and based on what you and everyone else told me, you were getting better. Him leaving and breaking up with you severed anymore progress. With Caesar, it was five years ago at Gerald's field. He saw how beneficial it was for everyone to just get along and not have to usurp anyone above others, but he refused do it. He resisted. With Roger and El, it was back in October when they tried to beat up Eugene. We, or rather Gerald, let them go, giving them a chance to leave unscathed. That should have made something click in their minds about what they were doing. They should have used that chance for self-reflection, to see that they were harming someone, but again, they chose not do anything about it. Unlike you, those opportunities were given to them, but they failed to utilize it. With you, that opportunity for a better life, to change into someone better; it was taken away you."

Helga said nothing and just continued to stare at Rodrigo, while he continued to sip on his soup.

"All this talk about seeking 'justice', or retaliation and sparing no one, is not only depressing Rodrigo," Gerald began to talk, "but is also self-destructive. You think Caesar's supporters, whether in this school or outside are just going to sit by and do nothing? They will retaliate against these arrests. An eye for an eye will make the world go blind."

"If that's what it takes to establish peace." Rodrigo responded casually. " It depends on them. It's their choice if they wish to continue with this vicious cycle of violence, revenge and retaliation. It takes two to tango, so unless they are at the very least willing to abandon this cycle of violence, there is nothing that I or anyone of you can do except to continue defending ourselves. So if the other side wishes to continue with this trend of retaliation,"

Rodrigo then picked up a plastic knife that was on the ground, adjusted it on his finger, letting it completely balance itself on the edge of his finger.

"In the end," he began to say with an almost evil smirk, "everything will balance itself out, as all things will eventually be."

Rodrigo's paraphrasing of Marvel Comics most notorious villain, Thanos, was not lost to the gang, which sent a cold and unnerving shiver down everyone's spine. Rodrigo was essentially saying that unless both parties cease their strategy of simple retaliation and revenge, people will end up hurting or kill themselves up to the point where they can endure it no longer and simply stop out of exhaustion, not because a solution or even a compromise was reached. They simply would have killed each other either out of exhaustion, or out of extinction.

Curly just grinned at Rodrigo and said,

"Whoa, you're more diabolical than I am. Sheesh you are brutal." The geeky kid remarked.

But Rodrigo had more to say about this.

"Or," he said, " the old" as he pointed to one end of the knife, "the new," as he pointed to the other end of the knife, "fused together to create something new." As he pointed to the middle of the knife. "That is what we must achieve; that is how we socially strive and become better people."

"That is why," he continued, "as I explained to everyone back in March on that Friday, someone needs to take that first step, to ensure that only the appropriate disciplinary actions are taken against them, but no revenge or retaliations are sought out. Someone needs to make a stand and stop playing fire with fire. It is not enough to simply crush this rising hate. What I did merely stopped this rising hate for the time being, but it did not, nor will it, make it disappear. I am willing to make that stand, but that I cannot do it alone. I need everyone involved. We must continue the struggle through education and understanding and actually try to change ourselves. Everyone, including Caesar, Roger and El, know that no race is biological superior to anyone else. We know that homosexuality is not a damn 'lifestyle', but a biological change that NO ONE can help it. We know that previous attempts to install one culture, one mentality, had led to disaster in previous countries and civilizations. We must accept it and adapt. We must abandon certain old cultural mentalities and traits in order to not only survive, but thrive with other people. We must change the entire social relations or structure of our society, the way we think, the way we see people, the way we see ourselves in relation to other people, etc."

"So going back to your question Helga, as to who the hell I am in making those decisions;" he said with a now serious tone, as he also got up from his chair. "I am that person who has the guts to do what is necessary; to do what no one else is able to do because of the moral weight that person would have to carry."

"None of you were willing to press that button." He continued while giving them a serious glare. "None of you were willing to accept, much less endure, the moral consequences of what would have happened if that button was pressed. I was willing and that's why I have that moral authority to go above all of you and do what needs to be done."

"In the end, my decision proved to be the correct one. That footage allowed everyone to realize that this hate ran way deeper than anyone, including me, realized. Many more people were involved in Caesar's group than we realized. Had I not pressed that button, we wouldn't have been able to effectively stop them. They would have reorganized and continued where Caesar left off, and we would have been right back in square one. Had I not pressed that button, we would have achieved nothing at that park and Arnold's legacy, as well as that of the Mitigators' would have been in jeopardy."

"Arnold tried to forgive everyone, he tried to give everyone a second chance and it almost worked! Almost. It worked for Gino, his crew, Sid, Stinky, Patty, Harold and all the other sixth graders that sided with Ludwig, Curly, and even with Ludwig, somewhat. But not with Caesar. He got away; he refused to see what Arnold was trying to offer to him. Arnold didn't fail, Caesar chose to turn his back on Arnold's peace offering. And that's where I come in, to put people like Caesar in their place; to make sure that these things do not happen again. We tried to be forgiving and while it worked for the most part, it failed with Caesar, Roger and El. So what are we to use now? Terror. If peace, forgivingness and love do not work, then terror shall be the order of the day. That is the fundamental difference between Arnold and I; the football head may be virtuous, but I am the Terror!"

He continued with a mischievous smile, coming around full circle in finally revealing to everyone this other side of him, the side that he was notoriously known for back in L.A.

"That's horrible!" Sheena exclaimed in pure horror. "How could you say such a thing?! How could you be so cruel to others without remorse?"

"Is there any other choice, Sheena?" Rodrigo calmly asked her. "Did you and Arnold not already give Caesar a chance to turn over a new leaf, to embrace the opportunity to live with others side by side and in peace?"

"Well, yes…" Sheena answered after some hesitation, knowing full well that she arguably had no way out to counter Rodrigo's incoming verbal attack.

"So what do you except me, or anyone else to do," he asked, "when someone like Caesar rejects peace and continues to rampage, causing harm to others? Why are you so concerned about him, Roger and El, the very people whom you should not be concerned about? What about all the other students whom they harmed, the friendships that are now permanently broken, the unity of a diverse community that is going to take years to undo the damage that those three caused? Shouldn't you also be concerned about them?"

"I am concerned about them, Rodrigo!" Sheena exclaimed a bit angrily. "I'm concerned about everyone, including people like Caesar, Roger and El! They are still human beings and they should be considered as such."

"That's the thing." he said. "As much as you want to be there for everyone, you can't. Apart from the fact that you are human and as such, you are limited as to how much you can do for others, unless Roger, El and Caesar realize their mistake, unless they come to terms that they let their hate, their ego and bogus mentalities get the better of them, unless they admit to themselves that they were wrong and want to change, there is nothing that you, or I, or even the great Arnold can do for them. They are on their own."

"For people like them," he calmly continued, "you must let them fall into the darkest pit of human misery, helplessness, pain and despair. You must let them first experience pain, suffering and despair, in order for them to not only want, but deserve love and happiness. It's not only about allowing them to feel the pain of being marginalized, of being hated themselves, of them losing everything that they have. If it was only about that, then yes, that would be cruel. It is about pain, suffering AND also about love and happiness. In order to grow as a true human being, as the epitome of what it means to uphold our highest values and virtues, one needs to go through pain and suffering in life in order to fully appreciate the rewarding sensation of being loved and being happy. One without the other creates either a hateful person or an unappreciative, spoiled, egoistical person. That's what life is Sheena, it is about experiencing both the good and bad things about life and trying your outmost coming out on top."

"Caesar, Roger and El have never experienced the dark part of life. They don't know what it means to be oppressed, to struggle through life, to lack even the most basic human necessities, all because people will not accept for who you are. Now they do and when they are ready, they will and should be, forgiven." He concluded.

Everyone simply looked at Rodrigo with complete shock on their faces. Helga, although equally shocked, remained calm and unfazed, at least from the outside. Her initial instincts of this Latino kid were correct; he was definitely more than what he let on and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Well, if anything, it was a bit nerve wrecking. This kid just proved to be far more dangerous than she ever was to anyone, perhaps even more than Caesar. He was essentially an Arnold gone morally totalitarian. However, before any of them has any chance to respond to him, Rodrigo continued.

The Latino kid's facial and physical demeanor then lessened a bit. His look gave way from one of fanatical determination to almost a sad expression, even to the point where he started looking down at the table, away from looking at their eyes.

"In the end," he continued with a now sad tone in his voice, "unlike the rest of you...including Arnold, I'm no hero, despite what he said about me. My actions and the extent that I am willing to go to see them through are not to be admired, much less imitated."

"I am the type of person that is willing to get his hands dirty in order to achieve a noble end. I'm kind of like Deadpool, really. I am the type of person that is willing to ensure that this cause succeeds, by any means necessary and whatever the cost. But because my actions will end up hurting so many people, they should never be admired, nor remembered. When people look back on what happened at Gerald's field five years ago and at the park seven days ago, they will look up to you, the Mitigators, as the true heroes who put a stop to this hate. No one will want to remember me and what I contributed."

"Nor should they." He continued. "But, that's ok. I mean, I don't do these things so I can be recognized as a hero and be rewarded. I do it because it is not only necessary, but because it is the right thing to do. I was willing to fight Roger and El back in October to protect Eugene because it was right. I was willing to endure that much pain and beating to ensure those people got what they deserved and also to not allow any of my friends to go through it as well. This is my sacrifice for the cause; to be hated and held with contempt."

Then, rather sadly, Rodrigo just slumped back down to his seat, then looked up at his friends' eyes and said,

"So you guys don't need to worry if Arnold's legacy, or if the legacy of the mighty Mitigators was in any tarnished, or corrupted. People won't remember me because they won't want to. Why should they, when they have you guys to look up to."

And with that, Rodrigo simply went about finishing his soup, leaving his friends completely silenced, unable to what to really say, except for one final thing.

"You are very hard on yourself." Harold said to him, prompting everyone to look at him with surprise, even Rodrigo.

"What you said to those three back at the park, about how you used to racist and homophobic, this is as much as about you as it is about anyone else, isn't it?" He continued.

Rodrigo just smiled at Harold, completely in awe at how more and more Harold was showing his wisdom. Truly, he was not the immature, simple-minded teen that he initially thought he was.

"Ya, you're right about that, Harold." Rodrigo agreed.

"So what happened Rod?" Stinky asked. "What did you do that made you change?"

Again Rodrigo just looked down at the table, shamefully this time, before he began to tell his story.

"I never grew up in a household that supported any form of racism or homophobia. At least, not directly." He began.

"But I was heavily influenced by some of the people that I used to hang out with back in L.A who were, very narrow minded, let's just say. So naturally, like everyone else, I imitated their thoughts and behaviour. It wasn't something that I, 'consciously', decided to do. It just happened."

"There was a gay person at our school who was often picked on. His name was Trevor. Some of those people whome I hanged out with were often those that picked on him. Although I never participated in picking on him, I didn't care for him. If anything, I thought he deserved it, since he was gay and black."

"One day, after school, I was on my way home, when a group of people, for whatever reason, grabbed Trevor and started beating him. Some students saw him getting beat up, but one bothered to intervene. I also saw it and like everyone else I didn't stop it. One of my friends who was beating him asked me to join in. I laughingly told him that it looks like he had everything under control and just left. I honestly didn't think much of it at all. You'd see those things often enough that it just becomes normal."

"The next day, I met up with my friend and asked him how did it go with the beating. My friend, without shame, went on and proudly told us how he and everyone else gave Trevor a good beating, like it was some sort of big achievement. He kept saying that he deserved it, which everyone, including myself agreed. Later that day, when I was walking to one of my classes, I happen to pass by Trevor and I was horrified at how badly beaten he was. His face was completely bruised, he had a few stitches. But the real injury was what I saw in his eyes. He looked, not sad, but...broken, emotionally and psychologically. I can still remember the despair that I saw in this eyes. To make matters worse, my friend, along with everyone else to beat him, got away with it. Trevor never revealed to the Principal or anyone who beat him. From what I heard, he told everyone that it happened outside of school."

"And that's when it hit me." Rodrigo continued, vividly remembering that somber, yet euphoric eureka moment. "I realized that he...didn't do anything to anyone to warrant such a beating. I also realized just how naive and stupid I really was. At that time, I knew almost next to nothing about racism and homosexuality, other than it being as a form of perversion, as some called it. I became livid at just how ignorant I really was about life and what people struggle with everyday. I recognized just how deluded I was into blindly following what others thought and did, with no regard as to how that altered myself, and how I saw others."

"I became disgusted with what happened!" He somewhat exclaimed angrily. "I became disgusted with myself. I could have helped him. I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I sadistically let it happen."

"What did you do?" Rhonda calmly, but worryingly asked him.

"I decided to tell the Principal what happened. I was going to expose them, but I wanted to convince Trevor to talk as well. Two days after the incident, I tried finding him during lunchtime, but I wasn't able to. Eventually, I went into the bathroom and found him there...unconscious on the floor. There was no blood on the floor; only a rope around his neck. He was trying to kill himself. Completely horrified and scared, I frantically called for help and managed to give him CPR, before a few teachers came to help. He survived."

Rodrigo nervously fidgeted with his hands as he recounted the dreadful memories of how his actions or lack thereof, nearly cost a innocent human life.

"When he was at the hospital, I paid him a visit. I told him how sorry I was into believing that he ever deserved such a beating. I told him about my plan to expose those that beat him, but I needed his help in order to do that. I told him that I would have his back no matter what and if anybody else touched him, they would regret it. I was willing to even fight against my friends if they so dared touched him. But...Trevor refused to go along with the plan. To my shock, he told me to let it go. I was about to protest, but I could instantly see in his eyes his reason; he was scared for his life. He thought that if he told the Principal who beat him, it would only serve as further justification to retaliate against him. He was just too scared to make any move against his abusers. As angry as I was, there was nothing that I could do and I just dropped it. The only consoling thing that I was able to give him was that if he ever needed any help, to just let me know."

"He was just a kid who couldn't help but be who he was..." Rodrigo continued, looking clearly upset.

"But, Rodrigo," Lila began to say, "it's not your fault..."

"Yes, it is my fault!" Rodrigo angrily cut her off. "I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I didn't want to! That's on me! And I'm not going to allow anyone to tell me otherwise. It's my burden to carry."

"When did all of this happen?" Helga prompted asked him.

Rodrigo then simply put his hands on his face, and then gently lowered his head onto the lunch table and groaned his answer.

"Five years ago…exactly."

The cruel, twisted irony of this whole story was not lost to anyone who heard it. It had now become clear why Rodrigo was so adamant in taking over this whole operation and not including anyone else unless they were useful to him. Like Curly, he had wanted to redeem himself for his own mistake and he was willing to go through extreme lengths to achieve it. He wanted to be forgiven.

"That incident woke me up from my 'dogmatic slumber'." He continued as he raised his head again. "I realized just how stupid and ignorant I was about people and vowed never to succumb to willful desires and ignorance again. That is why I am an obsessive reader and why I love to learn; I try to gain as much knowledge as possible. It was during my studies that I realized the inequalities and discrimination that happens every day. I never really thought it before, but as I investigated more and more into it, I saw to my horror and disgust that these types of violence, discrimination and hate against others is very common. It's just that most of them are done silently or discreetly. And I was one of the perpetrators."

"Gosh Rodrigo…" was all Sid could say while still stunned.

Helga for her part, although still irritated in being excluded, was sympathetic to Rodrigo and wanted to comfort him. However instead, she felt her tough exterior rising up, inducing her to tell him to simply, 'suck it up', like how she always does. But she reframed from saying anything. As much as she wanted to comfort him, she…didn't know how to and so opted to just stand here with her arms crossed on her chest.

"Well, you've paid for your mistake now." Nadine suddenly interjected. "Just what you did for Eugene back in October and what you did at the park seven days ago, that alone made up for what you did five years ago."

"No, it does not." Rodrigo responded back. "The truth is…I don't want to be forgiven."

"What? Why?" Sheena asked.

"Because the struggle is not yet over." He responded back with a determined tone. "So long as racism, homophobia, sexism and other discriminatory practices and behaviors continue, there should be no respite for anyone, including me. I don't intend on inciting a revolution in this country, but I have no intention on just living my life as normal and oblivious as everyone else. After everything that I have seen, heard and read, I cannot turn my back and just go back to being normal. I feel I now have an obligation to contribute in making this place, even just a bit better."

"So what, you're going to San Lorenzo too and help those in need?" Helga asked with a tense and aggravated tone.

Rodrigo looked up at her, but was not surprised by her remark, nor by her tone.

"No. I don't think I should something as drastic as that in order to change things. I plan on making a difference step by step, in my life and the way that I do and see things and how I associate with people. I think that can be just as effective as what Arnold is doing." He responded back.

That prompted Helga to lessen her tension a bit against the Latino teen, feeling satisfied with her answer and knowing that he won't just get up and leave as how she felt Arnold did.

***rrriinnnnggg***

The bell ran, signaling the end of lunchtime

"Well, we'd better get going fellars." Said Stinky.

"I take it that you will be going back to your school, Curly?" Gerald asked as he was getting his pack.

"Nah. I'm planning on scouting around your school Gerald," Curly responded back, "and see what this place has to offer. Who knows, I might even decide to transfer here." He said with a huge grin on his face.

Gerald just rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say, Curly."

_Please don't transfer, please don't transfer, please transfer_. Rhonda frantically, but hopefully said to herself in thought.

"Ce n'est pas le vérité, ma chérie?" (Isn't that right, my dear?) Curly then added as he looked towards Rhonda with a huge smile on his face.

"Loin de moi, tu petit insolite." (Get away from me, you little freak.) Rhonda softly snarled at him as she walked away.

And with that, everyone grabbed their belongings and headed towards their next class, hoping to get back into their usual groove and indulge on some sense of mundane normalcy that is slowly returning back into their lives.

* * *

**I know this chapter was a bit biased, but I wanted to focus on Rodrigo's decision and reasons for pushing that button and I didn't want to make this chapter a philosophical lecture on morality.**

**Please let me know what everyone thinks and if you agree with Rodrigo or not. Be respectful!**

**A few responses to some reviews:**

**Cre8ivelybankrupt87: Thanks! And no, I wasn't planning on having a school shooting scene in this story. I know that is an extremely sensitive issue for you Americans**


	19. Chapter 19 - A Third Way

**The same day, end of school day...**

The gang was waiting for the bus to arrive to take them home. Sid, Harold and Patty were the last to arrive, as everyone else was already waiting at the bus lane.

"Hey, where's Rodrigo?" Gerald asked when he noticed that the Latino kid wasn't here.

"He said he has stuff to do and was going to the library." Harold responded.

"I didn't even though the library was still be open at this time." Sid remarked.

Harold just shrugged his shoulder, acknowledging that he didn't know either.

*sigh* "And Helga?" Gerald asked nonchalantly, seeing that both teens were coincidentally 'missing' at the same time.

_What are those two up to now?_ He thought. _Whatever it is, I hope they settle it today._

"Helga said she needed to speak with one of her teachers about an assignment for her class; hence she will not be joining us on the bus ride home." Phoebe answered.

Gerald gave his girlfriend a suspicious look, knowing that Phoebe quite often came up with excuses for Helga's absences, but didn't bother to question her about it. There was no point.

Sure enough, the bus came and stopped, ready for them to climb on board and take them home.

Unlike other times, this bus ride home was a bit...quiet. Indeed the entire group was apparently still thinking about what Rodrigo had said to them, with some having some difficulty in trying to understand his point of view.

After a short while, Gerald looked up and noticed the confused, frustrated and even frowning faces of his friends. Knowing what was on everyone's mind, he decided to bring it up in order to set things straight.

"So uh, what does everybody think about what Rodrigo said back at lunchtime?" He casually asked.

Almost as if she was waiting for someone to bring the subject up, Phoebe looked up and was the first to speak.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, it is a tough situation for anyone to be in. By pressing that button, he helped expose to the authorities just how deep Caesar's influence ran in this school. It's a bit frightening knowing that some of our own teachers were supporting Caesar. I can't help but feel betrayed by them. I thought they would have looked at us students with equal respect and courtesy. Sadly, we must now face the reality that some of our own teachers had viewed some of us with contempt. But simultaneously, Rodrigo's actions has had terrible, unintended consequences for many students, whether or not they supported Caesar. I have been told that a student in one of my classes was implicated into being a part of Caesar's group. Although he vehemently denied it, some of our student colleagues have already passed judgment and are distancing themselves from him, with some even shunning him. The authorities themselves only brought him in to ask a few questions and he was allowed to go home after. But apparently, this process of 'confessing' and pointing the fingers at any person just so they can get out of trouble is taking its toll on many students, with many innocent teens becoming collateral damage due to Rodrigo's actions. I'm afraid because of this, I can't say I support his decision to expose Caesar, El and Roger, even if they deserved it."

"I'm afraid I am in ever so agreement with you, Phoebe." Lila added with a sad tone. "I find it justifiable to have Caesar, El and Roger pay for their what they did at our school, but I can't say it's justifiable now if a lot of innocent people are becoming victims of this purge. I would have wanted only those responsible to be punished."

"I agree." Sheena interjected while frowning. "It is completely unfair for the innocent to burn alongside the guilty. That to me is not justice, but revenge."

"So, you're saying that Rodrigo shouldn't have pressed that button?" Sid asked.

"Perhaps he shouldn't have." Sheena responded, albeit with some reluctance.

"I disagree, I think he made the right the decision." Sid countered politely.

The entire group looked at him surprisingly.

"I'm surprised you support him, Sid," Gerald said, "after he criticized you in not being able to trust you because you initially sided with Ludwig."

"Ya, what gives Sid?" Harold added rather annoyingly. "Why are you supporting him?"

"Ya, I've been thinking about that you guys, since lunchtime ended." Sid explained. "I haven't been able to get it out of my head. I mean, at first I was mad at Rodrigo for still judging me over something that happened almost five years ago, especially after I realized my mistake for ever siding with Ludwig. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that had I been in Rodrigo's shoes, would I have trusted me? Would I have trusted myself to being involved on such an important operation, after how easily I was manipulated by Ludwig? I mean from his perspective, it would have made sense for him to not trust me. He said it himself; he doesn't even trust himself from not being suckered into things like that, how could he trust others to not fall prey to hate or false sense of superiority?"

"But you guys are different now than how you were five years ago." Sheena countered.

"Yes, but how would Rodrigo know that?" He rhetorically asked. "Since we've met, I haven't really given him any reason for him to think otherwise. I mean, I've never really explicitly made it known to him how I much I disliked the rumours that were circulating around our school for months. In fact, I was quiet about it the whole time, almost as if I was neutral about it."

"But I wanted to do something about it." He continued. "It was bugging me what was happening at our school, but I didn't really feel we were able to do anything, so I kept quiet and just tried to move on."

"Is that why you support Rodrigo for what he did?" Nadine asked. "Because he actually took it upon himself to do something about it?"

"In a way, yes." Sid responded. "We know that Arnold would have done the same thing. Maybe not with the same plan that Rodrigo came up, but he would not just stood by and done nothing while all of this was going on. Rodrigo did something and what's more, him actually pressing that button saved this school. Look at how many teachers and school administrators were involved with Caesar. There was no way we could have just let them roam free."

"But what about those students and teachers that were wrongly implicated?" Patty asked.

"We can't hold Rodrigo responsible for that." Sid said. "Even if he knew that would have happened, it would still have been more wrong to have not pressed that button and let those three, and everyone else responsible go. And besides, we shouldn't blame Rodrigo for that. We should put blame on those students and teachers that ware intentionally implicating the wrong people just so they can save their own skins. We can't forget about that."

"I'm afraid I must also concur with that notion." Peapod Kid added. "I don't blame Rodrigo for the students that were wrongly accused of being involved with Caesar. That blame lies with those students who are lying to the police and the FBI. They should be held responsible, not Rodrigo."

"Oh gosh, I don't think I can't live with that, Peapod Kid." Eugene said anxiously. "If I had the power to affect that many people, I would have made sure that my actions affect only those responsible. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I knew that I also tarnished the lives of innocent people. What would have been the point of doing all of this if in the end we just discard them and not consider that our actions affected them as well?"

While everyone else was busy giving their opinion, Rhonda was quietly texting, looking either sad, frustrated or deeply bothered. Whatever the case, she clearly didn't look happy with whatever message she was receiving.

After some time, Gerald noticed Rhonda's frowning face and curiously asked her about it.

"Hey Rhonda, you ok?"

*disappointed sigh* "No Gerald, I'm not." She answered.

"What happened?" He asked, prompting everyone else to then look at her.

"Jeremy and Michael are not getting back together." She explained, now with a more sad tone. "After everything that has happened, they've decided to not continue with their relationship. They realized that they are too different people for them to simply get back together and pretend everything is alright again. Both are really devastated. While other couples or friends were able to get back together again, they realized that it would not work out for them."

"Gosh, that's terrible Ms. Rhonda." Stinky commented.

"Oh my!" Exclaimed Lila. "That is ever so sad."

Rhonda said nothing back and just continued to frown while looking at her cell. The news was clearly bothering her. She had a seriously angry expression on her face and unlike other times, it did not look that was she was on the verge on being comically, or just annoyingly dramatic about it. Quite the opposite, she looked as if this news had touched a sensitive nerve and she was taking it personally, a fact that Gerald noticed.

"Those three got what they deserved." She suddenly said quite sternly.

"Who?" Gerald asked. "Caesar, El and Roger?"

"Yes." She answered back, almost angrily snarling. "After everything that they did, they don't deserve to see the light of day again."

Everyone else went quiet and contemplated on what to say to her, but after seeing her glare, no one had the courage to speak up. They have seen her angry before, but this is the first time where her glare looked like two knives ready to take a stab at someone, not to mention that the comment that she just blurred out strongly indicated that she was deadly serious about it.

"Rhonda, I know you are upset that you won't get to plan their wedding, but aren't you taking this a bit too..." Gerald began to say,

"This is more than no longer being able to plan their wedding, Gerald." before Rhonda cut him off. "Ok yes, I did have great plans for their wedding that will never materialize, but that's beside the point. I was the one that brought them together. Those two have liked each other for years, but neither had the courage to ask the other out. I was the one that hatched a plan where they would both meet up at a place alone to talk. It started out quite awkwardly, but they eventually found their groove and relaxed. They hit it off from the start. They were both completely oblivious that it was I, Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd, with my superb matchmaking skills that brought them together, although I did eventually tell them what I did."

"Anyways," She continued, "I was not only proud of what I of my latest work, but I was happy for them too. They looked soo...happy together, especially Jeremy. He...has been having it rough and I was thankful that I was able to help him out and give him some sort of happiness in his life. But after what Caesar did, those rumours and slanders created an everlasting drift between them that was not able to heal. Jeremy found out that Michael, despite falling for a black guy, has extremely biased and prejudiced views about black people. He thought that Jeremy was just an 'exception' rather than the rule. You would have thought that someone who is gay, a member of an oppressed and discriminated community, would be sympathetic to other people who have also been discriminated against and would contain less biased and prejudiced views themselves. But that is not the case. Jeremy couldn't be with someone who had those types of negative views about him and Michael couldn't see past his own damn narrow mindedness, so they both called it quit. So if you think I am taking this a bit too personally Gerald, you damn right I am!"

"But Rhonda," Nadine began to say, "in their case, I don't think we should blame Caesar for that."

"What?" Rhonda asked as she turned to look at her former best friend with a serious look.

"You said it yourself; Jeremy found out that Michael has biased and prejudiced views about black people. That means that even before Caesar came, Michael already had those views. It wasn't something that Michael just picked up from the rumors. If he agreed with them then that means that he already believed in them beforehand. The rumors simply allowed Michael to make his views known to Jeremy."

"So you're saying that these rumours, at least with Michael, only played into his already biased and prejudiced views about African-Americans?" Rhonda asked.

"Precisely." Nadine confirmed. "Rodrigo himself realized this and that's why, instead of at least thanking everyone who fought alongside him, he practically scoffed at everyone at the park, blaming everyone, including his allies for allowing all of this get that far."

"So you agree with him in having to press that button?" Gerald asked.

"No, I don't." Nadine responded. "I agree with what he said back at the park, but I don't think pressing that button was the right choice. If he had given Roger and El the chance to change, perhaps that would have influenced everyone else, including the school staff who sided with them, to either change as well, or at least expose them in a less aggressive way."

"It's hard," Nadine continued, "to really judge Rodrigo's action. Perhaps Roger and El could have changed if given the chance, or perhaps not. Perhaps they would not have confessed to the police about some of the school staff being involved. There are a lot of different ways in which this could have materialized. I just feel that Rodrigo should have given peace a chance first before resorting to him pressing that button."

"But peace was offered to them." Park said. "Peace and good will was offered to Caesar five years ago, but he completely rejected it. Peace and good will, to some extent, was offered to Roger and El back in October, but they also rejected it. We've given peace a chance but it failed. What else was Rodrigo, or anyone of us supposed to do? You saw the look on Caesar's face; he was not going to back down from this. He would have returned. Were we supposed call on all students to fight against Caesar and his allies again? Would the students actual rally a second time? We were lucky that no one got killed at the park; I don't think we will be as lucky again if we had to resort to using violence again."

"I take it you are on Rodrigo's side?" Gerald asked.

"Well, yes." Park responded, albeit with some hesitation. "It's not an easy thing to admit, but yes, I think he did the right thing. And what's more, it's not like it was easy for him to make these kinds of decisions. Not only did he suffer serious injuries because of this, but like he said, he is taking it upon himself to be responsible for this moral burden so that we as a society don't have to. He's right, we won't consider him as a hero, nor should we. He sacrificed himself so that society can continue on. Were any of us willing to live with the fact that we sent not just those responsible, but also innocent people to prison?"

"That's still not good enough!" Harold insisted. "It just doesn't seem right in locking up those responsible with those that are innocent. Many had nothing to do with it, so why should they pay for it? That's not what Arnold would have done. I know that if he were in charge he would have found a better way, like he did last time."

"But Arnold wasn't in charge, nor is he here." Gerald then suddenly, but calmly interjected, prompting everyone to turn and look at him.

"Gerald," Phoebe asked worryingly, "don't tell me that you are agreeing with Rodrigo's actions?"

"No, I'm not." He confirmed. "But it's irrelevant if whether or not Arnold was in charge. Arnold was not here during the months when the rumors and hate were circulating our school. He wasn't here to witness some of our friends and student colleagues fighting and breaking up. When he was trying to convince Rodrigo to let them go, he was just being his usual optimistic self and didn't base his reason on whether or not it was the best course of action. And…I think that's the point."

"What do you mean?" Stinky asked.

"I mean that we've been so used to Arnold always telling us what to do that was right, that we still don't seem to really be able to think for ourselves and think outside of what Arnold would have done. We are not Arnold, we are ourselves and I think it is pointless to try and mimic him, or Rodrigo for that matter."

His friends said nothing and just continued to stare at him, wondering if he is either criticizing his best friend or them. Gerald took notice of their stare and attempted to explain himself further.

"Look guys," He continued. "Arnold has always been a great guy and he always tried to help out others. His self-rightous is as high as it goes; but therein lays the problem. This kid's ethics are so idealistic and so high up there that it is almost impossible to emulate, not to mention that sometimes, he can be wrong about a person or situation. Nevertheless, his instinct on always doing what was right often proved to be correct. But that was when we were kids. Now, as teens, almost as adults, I'm not so sure. Things are now more...complicated."

"Back when we were kids," Gerald continued, "Arnold always seemed to make it so easy; something was either right or wrong, no questions asked. But now, things are so blurry that it is almost impossible to categorize something, or what Rodrigo did, as something as simply 'good' or 'bad'."

"Are you saying that Arnold's ethics are immature, fit only for kids?" Phoebe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm saying that's Arnold's ethics are too idealistic, with little ground on reality." He clarified. "It was well and good when we were kids, but now things aren't so neatly package into something 'good' or 'bad'. I spoke with Arnold after he went to see Rodrigo at the hospital. Rodrigo explained to him his reasons why he had to press that button, after which Arnold left the hospital feeling conflicted. He wasn't really sure how to evaluate Rodrigo's actions. It was both the right thing to do, but also the wrong thing to do."

"I asked him what he would have done and he said that he would not have pressed that button. He would have let them go. Arnold remained firm on that decision, that wasn't bothering him. In his mind, he knew that was the right thing to do. What bothered him were the reasons that Rodrigo gave for his decisions. Needless to say, they weren't something that Arnold was easily able to brush aside. He had no way to counter it really. To be fair, Arnold also brought some good points about deciding to let them go. Both of their arguments had merits, but also had their flaws."

"With Rodrigo," Gerald continued, "he is no exception. Like Arnold, his ethics are also extreme, but in the opposite direction."

"How so?" Nadine asked.

"Arnold is nurturing." Gerald explained. "He is always there to lend a hand, offer advice and if necessary, a shoulder for you to cry on, literally. Regardless of what happened to you, or whether or not it was your fault for the situation that you found yourself in, he would help you out. Rodrigo can be like that too, as in the case with Helga or with some of us, but he can also go to the opposite end and be a serious disciplinarian. Arnold tries to convince you to do the right thing and help you to own up to your mistakes, but if you choose not to, then he doesn't force it upon you. Rodrigo on the other hand, will. That kid won't let your mistake, especially if it's a big one, slip. As far as he is concerned, you WILL own up to your mistakes, whether or not you want to, especially if it harmed others. For Rodrigo, it is only after you go through your own trial that you will be ready to receive all the help and forgiveness that you need. Both kids are concerned with reestablishing a balance in the universe; they just have different approaches on how to achieve that. They are different, but still the same."

"But in spite of it all, I think it is pointless to debate if whether Arnold or Rodrigo had it right. Instead, we should just ask ourselves what we would have done."

"Ok, well what would you have done, Gerald?" Stinky asked.

"I would have just gone to the police with that first footage of Caesar and those two confessing to their crimes." Gerald answered. "Rodrigo wanted to punish them, Arnold wanted to forgive them. Those two are a lot alike. Why even stick your nose in this? I mean, as you put it Park, the Latino kid practically put himself out there in great danger and he got clobbered for it. Who does that?! And no doubt Arnold would have probably have visited those three in prison to try and still help them out, like he would usually do. I say let the people whose job it is to clear these things get involved. Why did Rodrigo, Arnold or even we have to get involved? We're teens! We shouldn't be getting involved in these things."

"Society is built on checks and balances in order to deal with situations like these," Gerald continued, "We have them for a reason. At the very least, give that a chance before we do something as bold or drastic as what Rodrigo and Arnold propose."

"So, you don't agree with Rodrigo's plan on using social media to expose them?" Eugene asked curiously.

"Nope." Gerald answered. "Rodrigo was right, I would not have gone along with his plan. Hehe, from his point of view," he continued with an ironic smile to his face, "he a did good thing by not including me."

"We need to stop thinking about what Arnold or Rodrigo would do and just think more about what we would do." He concluded.

The gang just went silent and thought about what Gerald had just said. Did they allow themselves to take this too personally? Wouldn't it have been better to just send the footage to the police instead of uploading it on every social media? Why did they feel they had to get involved? Indeed, when Eugene came forward and revealed what they were doing, none had any second thoughts on what they felt they needed to do. Even Helga and Gerald offered no hesitation, nor any resistance into once again answering the call of the Mitigators, although they both had other motives. Gerald realized that it was too late to back down and wanting to help his friends, including Rodrigo, join the Mitigators again. Helga, furious at what Rodrigo did, joined the Mitigators not just to ensure that he would be ok, but to also strangle him herself after it was all over.

The gang soon realized that perhaps Gerald was right; having people like Arnold or Rodrigo did deeply influenced their behaviors. Without even thinking about it, they were unconsciously trying to emulate them, at least when it came to this situation. Like both teens, the gang felt a strong sense of doing what was right and trying to stop Caesar from rendezvousing with his allies, by any means necessary, was the right thing to do. Even Arnold had no reservations about leading hundreds of teens onto a battlefield where many of them would end up getting hurt. Just as what happened on Gerald's field, their hands were forced.

"Ok, but what's the deal of Rodrigo judging us for siding with Ludwig when he himself was also on the 'wrong side' five years ago exactly?" Harold suddenly asked, breaking the silence around them. "Who is he to judge when he was on the same boat as us?"

"No, he wasn't." Patty answered as she looked down on the floor. "Rodrigo figured out on his own what he was supporting was fundamentally wrong. All he did was look at the kid that was beaten for him to realize it. He had no 'Arnold' or anyone to tell him that what he was supporting was wrong. It just clicked for him."

Everyone then looked at Patty with a surprising look on their faces, stunned that she, of all people, would defend him.

"I understand now why he felt he had a moral advantage over us and why it bothers him to see how an entire group needs someone like Arnold to constantly ensure that we don't end up doing things that are wrong or just plain stupid." She continued as she somewhat pouted.

"How so?" Stinky asked.

"Thank about it." Patty began to answer. "Rodrigo makes mistakes, but this kid has a tendency to realize them without much help. He's shown that multiple times since his arrival. He also doesn't shy away from admitting his mistakes to people, which is even more remarkable considering how hot headed and arrogant we teens can be. Can we really say the same thing about us? How often times did we depend on either Arnold or anyone for that matter for us to realize that whatever we were doing or behaving was immature, immoral or just downright wrong? And, how many times did that same person needed to convince us of our mistakes?"

"But we were only kids back then, Patty." Nadine countered.

"So were Arnold and Rodrigo." Patty countered back. "The only reason why we were able to smarten up and mature was when Arnold left. We had no choice after that."

"So are you saying that what Rodrigo initially thought about us needing Arnold was right?" Gerald asked.

"No. I'm just saying that Rodrigo had a point." Patty answered back. "But, he was still wrong. Arnold leaving only proved that we don't actually need him. We could have done it ourselves, but with Arnold around, there was little motivation to do so."

Again the gang fell silent and pondered on what Patty said. After a few moments,

"So, does everyone think we should forgive Rodrigo?" Sid asked.

The gang initially said nothing as each of them pondered over the question. They were divided on this issue. While some were more willing to let bygones be bygones, others were not willing to simply let this slide.

"Hm, that'll depend on each of us." Gerald suddenly said. "Some of us were more affected by this than others, so I guess each person should decide if they should forgive Rodrigo or not."

"Well, do you forgive him, Gerald?" Sid asked.

"Hm, not yet." Gerald casually answered. "But I will...eventually."

"What about everyone else?" Sid asked, as he looked around for any volunteers.

But...none stepped forward to give him a positive answer. But then again, none stepped forward to say no either. The gang just shied away from answering that question all together, for fear to provoking themselves into further internal division. There has already been enough of that. Even Sid made no attempt to answer his own question and just slumped back down onto his sit while looking out the window.

While still reeling from what Gerald and Patty said, the gang continued to let this silence dominate their area on the bus while the rest of the students conversed away with other matters. Indeed, today had been a lot of take in and many did not doubt that they would need the next day to continue think about everything that had happened.

* * *

**This is my problem with the gang. Throughout the TV series, including Cre8ivelybankrupt's story, 'The Mitigators', everyone seem to be incapable in realizing that their actions or behaviour often has a detrimental effect on others. Throughout the show, Arnold has to consistently remind them and warn or give advice, even if they didn't want it, to not give in to any malicious acts and to always do what was right. Now keep in mind that the group did not always need Arnold. Pretty much everyone, including Helga, at some time in point, realized that what they were doing was wrong without Arnold even being present. Examples include when Stinky became famous and when he realized that he was being used, he told the producers that he quit, or when Phoebe plagiarized her poetry in order to win a trophy.**

**Although the group does have some capacity to independently act on their own, in my view, it is not enough. This becomes evident in the episode, 'Deconstructing Arnold' when Arnold, after being scoffed by everyone that he cannot live without giving some sort of advice or lend a helping hand, refuses to help anyone in order to proof them wrong. The result is predictable; they becomes morally lost without him. No worse, they become victims to people like Helga's immorally ambiguous advice. The same situation happened in Cre8ivelybankrupt's story, 'The Mitigators' when a good portion of the group sided with Ludwig. If anything, it is usually Sid, Stinky, Harold and sometimes Patty that often need more moral guidance than the rest of the group.**

**However, I also wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and not be completely biased against them by allowing them to mature enough to know that really, they never needed Arnold to begin with. They could have done it themselves, but as Patty pointed out, it was more out of a lack of motivation rather than a lack of intelligence or weak moral fibre, that prevented them from moving past their immaturity. **


	20. Chapter 20 - Those Three Words

When school ended on that same day, Rodrigo was thankful for it. It had been an...apprehensive first day back. He was just thankful that his friends still seemed willing to be his friends, even after explaining to them his reasons why he did what he felt he had to do. Indeed, he would not have protested if they wanted to kick him out of the group, for fear of his strict moral and radical ideas. It would not have been the first time. But they never did any of that sort, although the way they were looking at him during lunchtime was one of profound confusion, uneasiness and...fear, if not just completely disgusted with him. Needless to say, Rodrigo felt more isolated and alone than ever before. His own words that he uttered at lunchtime depressed him.

Even when he entered school in the morning, he could instantly tell the look that he was receiving from the students. While some came forward and shook his hand in gratitude for what he did and said back at the park, most gave him nothing more than a glare as they passed by, showing him their contempt for him and for what he did. While some took offence to what he said to them back at the park, others were furious at him due to either them or knowing someone who became a victim to the Purge. Rodrigo tried to ignore them staring down at him and just continued on with his day, but he couldn't help but feel anxious and like an outcast knowing that so many people were not happy to see him.

After lunch, he avoided seeing anyone else for the rest of the day, even going so far as to sit at another desk, away from Helga, during their history class. Helga, for her part, didn't protest, nor did she ponder about it. She just let him be.

When class was over, Rodrigo decided to go home alone, so he opted to stay in the library for a little while, reading a bit or did some of his homework. Once he felt that most of the students had gone home, he got up and proceeded to go to the bus stop and head for him.

Unbeknownst to him, Helga had opted to stay in school and speak with Rodrigo. There was a personal matter that still remained unresolved and she wanted, no she demanded, an explanation from him. However, she didn't approach him at all while he was at the library. Knowing that he wanted the time to be alone, she remained hidden behind the bookshelves, doing her own reading, while attentively looking to see when he was going to head for home.

As she continued waiting, she began to experience a nostalgic feeling, as if she had done this before, this spying. Recognizing the feeling, it brought memories of when she used to stalk Arnold, either in school or outside of it, watching him from a distance, not daring to get close, but just enough for her to experience that euphoric, satisfactory feeling of watching her beloved football in his natural habitat. She was too scared back then to have ever dared to get close enough to tell him how she truly felt about him. She remembered the frightening sensation of rejection if he ever discovered her watching him with admirable and loving stare. Now, those feelings and memories were a thing of the past and she was now spying on another kid, only in this case it was not to lovingly stalk him and admire his physical and personality traits. Although, if she had to admit to herself, he was kind of cute. No, she had a personal matter to settle with him.

Eventually, once Rodrigo started packing and heading out, Helga trailed not far behind, close enough to not to lose him, but not close enough for him to see her.

It took some time, but Rodrigo finally reached the bus stop and waited. It didn't take long for the bus to arrive. Once it did, he slowly but carefully climbed up the stairs and made his way to the middle of the bus. There were almost no students there, so there were plenty of seats to choose from. Rodrigo sat down, then took out another book to read, unaware of another student also hopping on the bus.

After paying her bus fare, Helga waited for the bus to start moving. Once it did, she began to walk towards Rodrigo. He was busy reading, so he did not notice her approaching him, until she came and sat down right beside him without uttering a word.

Rodrigo took a peek at the person who just sat beside him and although he didn't look at her face, he could tell who it was. Despite Helga's covertness, Rodrigo was not surprised to find her here.

Initially, none said anything to each other. Rodrigo simply continued on reading, while Helga looked straight out the window that was facing her with her usual stern face. The silence was not awkward, but one could tell that there was tension between them. Helga came here for a reason and it was not to see if he was alright.

"You lied to me." She said to him, finally breaking the silence that was surrounding them.

"I didn't lie." He said back to her, putting the book into his backpack. "I just broke a promise."

"Why?" She asked him.

"Because if I didn't, I knew that you were going to go to that park with me and there was no way that I was going to allow you to do that." He responded back. "No amount of reason, or any rope for that matter was going to deter you from going to that park with me. So I did what I had to do in order to make sure that you would be ok by telling you that I didn't need any help."

Helga didn't say anything back to him, other than frown at the fact that he did what she scoffed him for back in March; patronizing her.

"And if you think that I'm going to apologize to you for that," Rodrigo suddenly continued, "I'm not. I was truly sorry for patronizing you back in March, about not treating you as an adult and just making decisions without consulting you, especially if they concerned you. But I am not sorry for not including in my plan on how to beat Caesar. I care about you too much to just put you in harms' way and if you have a problem with that; about me caring for your safety and wellbeing, well too bad."

"That is not for you decide, Rodrigo!" She angrily snapped at him.

"It is, if you were going to put yourself in harm's way because of me!" He retorted back. "Are you telling me you were not going to go to the park with me, even if I asked you not to, even if I gave you all the reasons in the world, are you telling me that you would not have still gone to the park with me, even if it was just us two, against more than a hundred of Caesar's supporters, who could have easily beaten us both within an inch of our lives?"

"Of course I would have still gone!" She angrily responded back. "What, you think I was just going to let you go there alone without any backup?! You were expecting me to just sit by and pretend that everything was ok when one of the few people that I care about could have been sent to the hospital or worse?!"

"That's why I didn't want to include you." He calmly responded back to her.

"You don't get to make that decision and expect me to just take it like it's no big deal!" She continued to snarl at him while restraining herself from trying not to take swing at him.

"And what exactly were you going to do if you went with me to the park?" Rodrigo asked with a more aggravated tone.

"What could you have possibly have done there? Even if all of our friends went there, we would still be outnumbered. And moreover, had it been only you and I, do you think Caesar would not have taken advantage of that? He could have easily used you as leverage in order to get me to fight him on his terms, or even to trade you for the phone, had Curly actually thrown it to me. Please tell me Helga what plan would you have concocted for you to go there and actually get out unscathed?"

Then, with a now more sad and worried tone in his voice, he continued. "I don't know what I would have done if Caesar grabbed you and started hurting you in front of me, while his supporters held me, forcing me to watch. I don't know what I would have done if Caesar grabbed you and threatened to harm you unless I hand him over the phone. I...I honestly don't know what I would have done."

"You make it sound that I was just going to blindly go to the park with you without a plan, like some dumb bozo!" Helga exclaimed angrily at him. "Do you think I am that stupid? We could have thought of something. I don't know what, but something instead of letting you just go there on your own!"

"Do you approve of my plan?" Rodrigo asked her. "If I included you, would you have followed on my plan in using social media to expose them?"

"It was a good plan," Helga reluctantly admitted, "except the part where you had to go to the park on your own and make it look like they were being the aggressors. I honestly did not see the point in that. The footage where Caesar and those two idiots talk about how it was they who spread those rumors and slanders was enough."

"It was just one more reason to make them look bad." Rodrigo explained. "I wanted to make sure that people completely understood who these guys were and what they were capable of. I wanted to make them look like despicable thugs."

"You should have trusted me to help you." She angrily insisted. "The fact that you were so worried about my safety makes me feel that I am a liability to you, a burden! You are either a controlling freak or have serious trusting issues. I have been in tough situations before and I got out of them unscathed. I would not have gone to that park without an escape plan, you know that! You know how I think and yet you still went out there on your own without me!"

"I know you were worried about me, Helga." He calmly said. "And I know that you could have escaped that park without being serious harmed. I know you are tough and resourceful and that's one of things that I like about you. But you know very well that plans don't always go the way you want them to. I mean, look at my plan; everything was working out well, until Curly screwed it up! I did not even consider that possibility! I'm sorry, but I couldn't risk it. And I preferred to have you worried and angry rather than you be harmed or in any way get hurt by them. I could live with my injuries, but I could not have lived if my actions ended up getting you hurt...or worse."

"This wasn't about your ego, nor about your pride. It was about you being safe. And for that," he continued. "I will not apologize."

Helga for her part said nothing and, while pouting, just continued to scowl at the window that she was still looking at. If she had telekinesis powers, that window would have already shattered into a million pieces.

For a while, none of them spoke to each other, allowing another round of silence to consume them and the bus, as neither seemed willing to give up their position. Rodrigo felt that her safety and wellbeing was more important than having to include her in important decisions, while Helga felt that Rodrigo should have trusted her to help him, instead of seeing her as a liability.

"You surprised me, you know." Rodrigo finally said something.

"How?" She asked him while still pouting.

"At the park, when you asked me to not press that button and to let them go, I was surprised. I thought that out of everyone one, you would have supported me in making them get what they deserved."

"Well, I guess we are both full of disappointments, aren't we?" She retorted.

"I'm not angry or disappointed at you; just surprised, that's all."

"Well, surprise!" She sarcastically exclaimed.

"Why did you join the Mitigators?" He calmly asked her, ignoring her sarcasm.

"What?"

"Why did you join the Mitigators in the first place? Did you really believe in what they were fighting for, or did you join them for Arnold?" He clarified his question.

Helga looked at him with a suspicious look and a raised eyebrow. She wasn't really upset or offended by his question, but she wasn't sure what to make of it. She wasn't sure if he was just curious about her reasons, or if he was questioning her loyalties for both the cause and to her friends. After some thought, she answered.

"I joined the Mitigators because of Arnold." She said. "I don't really care if a student gets dumped into a trashcan. But what Ludwig was trying to do, to reinstitute that practice as a tradition that was suppose to last for many years, that I couldn't let it down. Needless to say, I joined not only because Arnold was right, but also because that's what I loved about him; his selflessness, his strong moral fibre, his desire to uphold the needs of the many over the needs of the few. It…pushed me to do the right thing."

"When you told me to not press that button, did you think that I was not going to do through with it?" He asked.

"Initially, when it looked as if you weren't, yes, I thought you were not going to press that button." She answered. "But when you did, I was not only surprised, but also….disappointed. I knew you had your reasons why you pressed that button and I damn well knew that it was what that stupid Arnold said, about forgiving them, that also pushed you to do it. But, I was still disappointed that you could not give them a chance to change…like how you gave me a chance."

"But that was before I heard your reasons and before it was revealed to everyone just how deep their reach went into our school, so ya, I guess they got what they deserved." She said casually as she shrugged her shoulders.

Although Helga did agree with Rodrigo about pressing that button, she took it with a grain of salt. She wasn't thrilled about how much it affected so many people, whether they were guilty or not, nor was she thrilled in seeing this other side of Rodrigo; as an unforgiving and merciless person. Although his intentions were good, his actions nevertheless made Helga nervous. It demonstrated to everyone and to her, that Rodrigo is to be taken deadly serious, a fact that was not lost to Rodrigo.

"You're not…afraid?" He shyly asked her.

"Afraid of what? Of you?" She asked.

Rodrigo sheepishly simply nodded.

Helga initially looked at him with a suspicious stare, wondering if he was joking. However, when she saw the serious, but sad look in his eyes, she knew that his question was nowhere near to being funny.

"Pfft, please Latino boy. Me, afraid of you? Ha! I'm Helga G. Pataki; I'm not afraid of anyone." She declared confidently.

Rodrigo however was not amused, and just stared at her, waiting for her to get serious again.

"Fine. The truth is, I'm not really...sure what to feel. Apart from the fact that no one has ever asked me that, it has usually been the reverse; people are afraid of me. You just kind of surprised me at just how unforgiving you can be. Even with our friends, you were patient, kind and helpful towards them you met them last September. But because of this, you became completely cold and scornful against many of them because of the mistakes that they made years ago. Yet, you were so patient and understanding and…well…errr…what's that word people use when they eat candy, the way it tastes?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sweet?" Rodrigo answered.

"Ya that!" She said as she snapped her fingers. "You were...sweet… to me throughout. I thought that you would have extended that same level of kindness and understanding onto others."

"Like Arnold?" Rodrigo asked.

Helga just sighed in annoyance.

"Don't compare yourself with football head, Latino boy." She retorted. "But yes, like Arnold." She continued softly.

Again, both teens then said nothing to each other and just continued to stare at the big window across the bus.

"How come you didn't answer any of my texts before my battle with Caesar?" He suddenly asked her. "Were you that mad at me?"

"No." She responded back. "It wasn't just that. I...I was..."

Helga just rubbed her eyes while she groaned.

_Ugh, I hate feeling this vulnerable!_ She thought. _But he has to know._

Helga then let out a small sigh before she began to explain.

"I was scared." She confessed nervously.

"Before Eugene told us, I didn't know how you were planning on beating him. I didn't know anything at all how you were planning on getting out of this alive and it was the unknown that made me feel...well, helpless." She continued.

"Helpless?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, Latino boy. I felt helpless because you wouldn't accept my help." She snapped at him. "You know how much I like to be in control, so not being in any control to help you was...scaring me. Not knowing what was going to happen to you was driving me crazy and I started fearing all the possible worst things that could happen to you. It got to a point where the only way I was able to deal with it was doing what I usual do; isolate myself and just suck it up. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well those past two nights before your date with Caesar."

Rodrigo said nothing and looked at her with a shocked look on his face. He had no idea how much his rejection of her help had deeply affected her. He just thought she was angry at him and hence, didn't want to talk to him. But now he realized that giving her the cold shoulder and not at least informing her on how he was going to beat Caesar had made her so worried about his safety that it was forcing her to go back how she used to be before they met; isolating herself from the world! What Rodrigo did to her would driven anybody crazy and hysterical, including him! How would he have liked it if Helga did that to him? He would have gone insane with being so worried! It was because of this realization that he finally relented.

"I'm...I'm sorry Helga." He said to her genuinely, having finally understood her side. "I never meant to make worry that much about me. I'm really sorry for having to put you through that. I...I won't do that again."

Helga sighed in relief, happy that he managed to understand her.

"It's ok." She said to him casually. "But for your sake, you'd better not do it again." She continued firmly.

Rodrigo said nothing but just gently nodded, acknowledging the seriousness of her tone. Despite how close they were, Rodrigo knew full well that Helga's feelings were not to be trifled with. Others had already messed with them, she was not going to allow others to do the same. He felt lucky that Helga didn't actually pummel him because of that.

Again, for another short while, both teens got quiet.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Helga suddenly spoke again. "You've made a mistake, just like everyone else has. And yes, before you get into it, even that dumb football head has made mistakes. We're all humans."

"I know." He said softly. "I just want to make amends for my past mistakes. Unfortunately, I let my guilt blind me from trusting others to do the right thing. I corrected a mistake only make others. But I can't even trust myself to do the right thing, how can I trust others? I need to let that go. I'm sorry Helga for not trusting you."

_Ugh, crimeny, I might as well say it._ She groaned in thought.

Helga then lifted her hand and gently placed it on his shoulder and said, "I forgive you." With a smile on her face.

Rodrigo turned to look at her and just smiled back at her, feeling relieved that finally some of the burden that he was carrying had been lifted.

"By the way, thank you for saving my life." He added.

"Pfft, now you thank me?" She annoyingly remarked. "After you had your little moment with Eugene and you practically slobbered all over Cecile's hand and told her that you are 'in her debt now', now you realize my contribution? Typical." She pouted.

"Ya, about that." He said a bit nervously. "I wanted to thank and hug you too, but I was afraid that if I got close enough, you would have actually tried to pummel me, hehehe."

"Hey, I was going to pummel you," She confirmed. "but Caesar beat me to it."

"Gee, thanks." Rodrigo sarcastically remarked. "Anyways, yes Eugene's decision to not listen to me and include everyone of you was crucial, as well as Cecile's eventual arrival," Rodrigo began to explain, "but it was your speech that aroused those students to go to the park, ensuring that Caesar was stopped. Had it not been for that, What Eugene did and Cecile's arrival would have been irrelevant. It was you that ensured our plan eventually succeeded. Moreover, you Helga, not Eugene or Cecile, saved my life. Had it not been for you, I…don't think I would have lasted there much longer. If you recall, I told Cecile that WE are in her debt, meaning the Mitigators, but I will forever be in your debt Helga. I'll never forget what you did for me." He said.

"Thank you." He continued with a smile and gave her a small nudge on her arm with his elbow.

Although initially still pouting, Helga loosened up a bit, sighed and said softly, "you're welcome." with a smile back.

"I don't know how I'm going to ever repay you for what you did, but I promise you that I will." He said.

"You already did, Rodrigo." She said back to him with a smile.

Rodrigo looked at her, surprised that she would compare to what he did for her during all of those months since they met with what she did for him back at the park. But after thinking about it, he saw their similarities and acknowledged with a nod.

"But you still owe me big time, Latino boy." Helga, somewhat playfully and with a smile, snapped back at him.

"Sure." Rodrigo said to her. "What did you have in mind?"

"You can start by taking me to a nice, fancy dinner and paying for it." She answered him as she leaned against her seat and put her hands behind her head. "Better make it first class all the way, nothing on the cheap side, got it bucko?"

"Sure, whatever you say Helga." He said smiling.

**The End**

* * *

**That's it, it's done! I would like to thank Cre8ivelybankrupt again for giving me the privilege to write this part II story of the Mitigators from his original story.**

**I am currently writing two more stories. One is set to take place right after the events from my previous story, 'Helga's Transference', so it will be taking place in between the events that lead up to the climax of this story, 'Arnold's Legacy'. The other is set to take place in the summer, right after the events of this story, 'Arnold's Legacy', where Arnold will finally be one of the main characters and it will be an eventual show down between him and Rodrigo. **

**Ya, it's a bit confusing, but it is intentional, as all of these stories overlap each other in some ways or another. Plus, I will leave further instructions to help guide everyone.**

**Please note that it may take me a while before I start posting them because I am writing them simultaneously.**

**In the meantime, thanks again for taking the time to read my story. I hope everyone enjoyed it! Please comment and review!**


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